Counterfeit Manic
by Shadow Commando
Summary: Scourge, the adopted son of Robotnik, lives an abusive life devoid of love and warmth. But after Robotnik is knocked unconscious in a car accident, Scourge pretends to be Manic Hedge, one of Robotnik's victims, so that he can have his life and family. (SEQUEL NOW UP)
1. My Darkness

_Do you know who the boy in this paper is? He's a kid that I brought home, and I wanted to teach him to be good, but he never learned, so I had to kill him. Is that what you want? If you do not do as you are told, I will have to kill you, too._

That was what Robotnik had said. That was what he said after he saw me looking at a newspaper clipping of another hedgehog who'd been here before me.

He kept me in the basement to teach me to be good, as he put it, though he never told me what I did wrong.

My name is Scourge, and I am Robotnik's step son. He only lets me out of the basement when he wants to use me and then throws me back inside when he's done. It's cold and dark down here, and I spend my days passing the time with whatever I can get my hands on just to keep from going out of my mind, which is hard enough as it is.

One way I like to entertain myself is music. Of course, Robotnik never gives me anything to make noise with since he prefers quietness, so I use some pieces of wood I found to make light tapping noises that sound like music. I think it's called 'drumming' but it's been a long time since I heard anyone mention music. I have to do it quietly or Robotnik gets angry and uses the belt, and he gets angry very easily. The marks on my body would testify to that, but that's not what hurts the most. Outside wounds heal fast, but hunger doesn't. He rarely feeds me, telling me I'll get fat like him if he overstuffs me. He keeps me thin because he says I look good that way, but it does little to numb the hunger pains I live with everyday, and even when he does give me food, it's only a little, enough to keep me alive. Then he has his way with me and puts me back in the basement, telling me it's so no one will have to see how bad I am.

This has been my life for as long as I can remember, but recently, Robotnik's nephew, my step cousin Snively, came to visit. He just came over to check up on his uncle, and for the first time, Robotnik let me out of the basement and we watched television together while enjoying a pizza. It was the first time I had been treated like a person, but as soon as Snively left, back into the basement I went, and things went back to the way they'd been before, only now I longed to be let out one more time, to experience the freedom I had never known previously. After that, everything I had done to keep myself busy now seemed hollow.

What good was drumming when I could be watching TV? What good was Bread and water when I could be enjoying pizza? And just why did I have to live in the basement when no one else had to? Surely Robotnik and Snively had made mistakes, too. What had I done that was so bad?

No longer content with my incarceration, I started looking for something new to do and that was when I noticed an old box of papers behind the staircase, so I opened the box and looked through the various documents. Just a lot of magazines and newspapers, but then I stopped at one particular article that talked about a young hedgehog named Manic Hedge who had gone missing at the Riverdale Mall on July 9th, when he was only 9. It showed pictures of Manic and his family doing various things together, like blowing out candles on a big cake, riding in a boat on a lake, and playing around in a pile of leaves. The article also mentioned that Manic liked to hang out with his brother and sister at the local Pizza Hut. His younger brother was named Sonic and had blue fur, his younger sister was Sonia and had crimson colored fur, his mom was named Aleena and she had a calm shade of purple, and his dad was called Jules and his fur color was also blue, making him look like an older version of Sonic, while Manic was bright green like me. But despite their differences, in all the pictures they were smiling or laughing. Something I had never done before. However, one part of the article stood out from everything else. It said that his family had put every ounce of energy into finding their lost boy and getting him back. They loved him enough to go looking for him, even after he had been taken away.

As I stared at the article and the pictures, absorbing the details of Manic's life, I couldn't hold back the tears. I wanted to have the kind of love that the pictures showed Manic enjoying with his family. I wanted to go on the same adventures that he did with his brother and sister, and eat the same food he did. Whether I got fat from the food or not no longer mattered to me if my life couldn't have some sort of meaning to it. I sat there fantasizing about having a family like Manic's until my eyes began to get heavy and I dozed off.

I soon found myself on top of a hill covered in cold white fluff, known by many as snow. I was lying on my front side on some green circular object made of plastic and zooming down the hillside at an incredible speed. The excitement and adrenaline climbing as I descended. Faster and faster I went, sliding down through the snow until I reached the bottom and continued sliding, laughing the entire way. But then the sled went over a snow mound and I immediately shot up in the air and lost my balance and was unable hold onto my sled and fell face down into the snow and was quickly absorbed by it. It happened so fast that it scared me a little, but I was laughing because it was also fun and I didn't get hurt, thanks to the snow being so soft. But then I looked up to see someone running down the hill toward me. As that person got closer, I could see that it was someone with purple fur. I knew I'd seen that person somewhere before, but as the person got closer, I recognized her as Aleena Hedge, Manic's mother. I knew I'd seen her somewhere, presumably on some picture, but it slipped my mind as she ran up to me and scooped me up in her arms and held me.

"Are you alright?" she asked.

"I'm okay." I said.

I could have sworn my voice was three times higher. I looked at my arm and noticed it was tiny, and enveloped in a thick blue sleeve, indicating I was a young hedgie wearing a heavy blue snow coat. Aleena must have tripped over something because she fell backward with me still in her arms and we both started laughing and then she smiled at me and ran her fingers through my quills as I rested my head on her shoulder, purring contentedly at the warm fuzzy feeling inside me. My eyes started to get heavy and I felt more relaxed, Aleena's fingers still running through my quills, and I slowly began to nod off, getting lost in the serenity.

Then a hand grabbed my shoulder and roughly spun me around. I turned and saw Robotnik standing over me, but the snow and Aleena were gone. Only the basement walls remained. I had been dreaming that Manic's mom had been my own.

Robotnik noticed the article I had found and snatched it away.

"I suppose there's no hiding the cat now that it's out of the bag." he said, "Do you know who the boy in this paper is?" he asked.

"Manic Hedge?" I replied, hoping it was the answer he wanted.

"He's a kid that I brought home, and I wanted to teach him to be good, but he never learned, so I had to kill him. Is that what you want?" he asked, menacingly.

I shook my head, but that wasn't enough for him.

"If you do not do as you are told, I will have to kill you, too." he growled, "Now will you do as you are told?"

I nodded reluctantly, knowing what was coming. The contrast between Robotnik and Mrs. Hedge was overwhelming. In the dream where Aleena Hedge had been my mother, I felt love and warmth, but here with Robotnik, there was nothing, only hunger. Hunger for food. Hunger for safety. Hunger for love. All of which were beyond Robotnik's capabilities.

"Good…because it is time for our _get together_." said Robotnik, pushing me up the stairs.

Neglect and isolation aren't the only things Robotnik does to 'punish' me for being bad. There are nights when Robotnik has needs and uses me. The pain from the belt and from hunger is nothing like the other kind. He pins me to the bed and I see red as he rips me apart from within. It makes me sick to think about how pathetic my cries are. I cry and piss myself like a baby. It hurts so bad every time that I can't even hold in my screams. That makes him angry and he smashes my face with his fists if I make a sound while he's doing his business. If he can't get me to be quiet, then he pulls my hair while hitting me with his fists until I black out, only to wake up in so much pain that I can't even move. Other times, he just covered my mouth and nose with his hand so I couldn't even breathe. That was worse because I was suffocating while staying awake through the other kind of pain, so to spare myself the suffocation, I bite down on my arm until it bleeds with the rest of my body, but it's better than making Robotnik angrier.

After he's done, he drags me back to the basement and lays me down on the floor and goes back upstairs to stuff his face and watch TV or go to bed. Meanwhile, I lay here in a fetal position, desperately wishing I had Manic's family. Wishing they'd come and take me away from this horrible place. At least they don't want to kill me.

But a few days later, after Robotnik had gone to work, I heard a car pull up and someone entered the house. I thought it was Robotnik returning home from work until the person opened the basement door. It was Snively. He slowly walked down the stairs and stared at me.

"You'll never guess what happened." he said, smirking, almost menacingly.

"What happened?" I asked nervously.

"Robotnik was in a car accident and he's unconscious in the hospital." said Snively, now smiling.

I began to feel hope for the first time. This meant that he couldn't hurt me anymore and I could escape.

"Does that mean you'll help me?" I asked him.

"It means you're mine, now." he said, shoving me against the wall.

Whatever hope of escape I had, died. He tried to kiss me, but I pushed him away. That made him angry and he pulled out a switch blade and slashed at me, cutting my arm which I had raised in defense. My arms were covered in scars and bite marks, so it was easy for me to ignore the pain from the knife. I tried to swat the knife out of his hand, but he lunged at me and stabbed me in the chest, something I was not used to. The pain was indescribable, but as if that wasn't bad enough, Snively jerked the knife to the left, leaving a big gash in me. I couldn't stop screaming because I was in so much pain that I couldn't even move. I collapsed to the floor, holding my side, trying to stop the bleeding. In the midst of my agony, I briefly noticed Snively backing away from me. I heard him scamper up the steps and out the door.

Now I was all alone. Robotnik was unconscious and Snively had left me for dead after stabbing me. Getting weaker, I knew that if I didn't do something, I was going to die, and I wasn't ready to die, so I used all my effort to push myself up off the floor and for the first time, I voluntarily walked up the stairs by myself. Each step was like climbing a mountain and I had to use all my strength just to lift my foot up a step, but I kept going and going until I finally reached the twentieth and final step at the top and I pushed open the door to see the kitchen and family room where I'd watched TV. I looked around and saw a phone on the wall. That was when it hit me.

I had been wanting Manic's life, and now I could have it. Robotnik said he'd killed Manic, and having looked in the mirror a few times, I knew I looked very similar to him, though alot older, which meant that I could pretend to be Manic and his family would take me in and care for me. I could finally be loved. I staggered over to the phone and picked it up while fighting to keep from falling over.

I dialed the only number that came to mind: 911. All I heard on the other end was ringing.

"Please pick up." I whispered frantically.

I looked behind me to make sure Snively had told the truth and Robotnik wasn't there in the house with me. If he caught me phoning the cops, it would all be over, but as I looked around the room, I saw a trail of blood going into the basement. For a moment, I thought somebody else was in the house, until I saw the trail of blood leading to me and I realized it was my own, and not only that, but the blood was pooling around my feet. I was losing more of it with each passing second.

"911 Emergency Services." said a voice at the other end of the line.

It's go time.

"It's me, Manic Hedge. I was kidnapped by Ivo Robotnik. Please help me." I said, both frantically and excitedly.

"Hold on." said the officer.

After a moment, he came back on.

"You're _the_ Manic Hedge? The one who was kidnapped 5 years ago?"

They remembered him.

"Yes. Robotnik kidnapped me and now I'm trapped in his house. Please help me, I was stabbed and I'm losing blood." I said, feeling light headed.

"Robotnik stabbed you?"

"No, his nephew, Snively Kintobor told me that Robotnik had been in a car accident and then he tried to rape me, but I fought him off, so he stabbed me and then left. Please hurry." I said, impatiently.

Hope began to fade as I started to feel dizzy. I wasn't going to last much longer.

"Okay, do you know the address you're at?" asked the officer.

Address? How was I supposed to know that?

"I don't know the address. I've been trapped in this stupid house for as long as I can remember!" I said, practically shouting into the phone.

"Okay, okay, can you see it on the mailbox?" he asked.

By now, I could barely move because I felt so dizzy, but at least they'd know where I was as soon as I told them the code on the mailbox, so I forced myself toward the door. My vision was starting to go dark, but I kept going, determined to get the address so I could leave this place forever. After much staggering and stumbling, I made it to the door, but when I opened it, there was no mailbox in sight, just a heavily wooded area with a driveway that disappeared into the trees.

"No! Not now! Not like this!" I shouted, forcing myself out into the yard, leaving bloody footprints.

Here I was only a phone call away from freedom and I had to die of blood loss all because of a stupid mailbox address. I was losing blood and I wouldn't make it much further, and yet, I still couldn't even see the mailbox. Even if I did get to the mailbox, I wouldn't make it back to tell the officer what was on the mailbox.

In my hopelessness, I collapsed to the ground.

"Someone help me." I called out silently, my voice barely a whisper.

I felt my life leaving me as my vision went dark.

No response. Just as it had been my whole life. No one had ever been there for me before. Why should it be any different now?

This has been my whole life, and this is how it all ends…in darkness…


	2. Family of my Dreams

He'd been stabbed, lost a lot of blood, and should have been dead.

He should have, but instead, he felt relaxed, like he was laying down on something soft. He also felt a comforting warmth, which was a stark contrast to the hard, cold basement He'd lived in his whole life, so he finally registered the possibility that he wasn't as dead as he thought and forced his eyes open, only to be met by a blinding light.

For a moment, Scourge thought he was staring at heaven, until his eyes adjusted and the only thing he saw was white walls all around him. It didn't seem like heaven, but he still didn't know if he was dead or alive. He looked down at himself and saw his entire body wrapped in a big fluffy blanket, which explained the warmth, and also meant he was lying on a real bed instead of a pile of old rags in the basement. Maybe this was heaven, after all.

"Mom, I think he's awake."

Scourge turned his gaze toward several figures seated around the room. His vision was still blurry, so he couldn't tell who exactly they were, but at least they didn't resemble Robotnik.

Then he felt movement beside him and looked down to see a purple furred woman raise her head off of the bed where she had been resting it. Scourge immediately recognized her as Aleena Hedge, the woman from his dream.

"Welcome back, Manic," she said softly, smiling as she put her hand on his cheek.

"Mom?" he cooed, weakly.

He needed her to think he was her son, Manic, but he also wanted so badly for her to be his mother. The warm touch of her hand brought with it a deep sense of longing. He'd always wanted to feel loved, but only became truly aware of that after having that dream where Aleena had been his mommy instead of Manic's, but now, with her here, touching him, that longing bubbled to the surface and he couldn't bare the loneliness any longer and moved toward her, putting his arms her and pulling her toward him and burying his face into her shoulder as she wrapped her own arms around him, fresh tears soaking her sleeve. He could not believe this was actually happening. The one thing he had wanted more than anything else was to have a family like Manic's and now it was really happening. It was too good to be true, yet, here they were.

Scourge felt another pair of arms wrapping around him. He looked up to see an older hedgehog who he recognized as Manic's father, Jules.

"It's over, Manic," he said, "You're safe, now."

His voice was warm and reassuring, like a big blanket wrapping itself around him. Vastly different from Robotnik who practically hissed his words when he wasn't shouting in a dry, raspy voice. That difference made Manic's father seem pleasant to listen to.

Then both parents noticed something behind them and backed away from Scourge, and for a second, the hedgehog thought they realized he wasn't their son, but his alarm turned to relief when he saw that they were moving out of the way simply so Manic's siblings could see him. They too wrapped themselves around him. One had deep blue fur, and Scourge recognized him as Sonic. The other one had crimson fur, obviously Sonia, who was Manic and Sonic's younger sister. But no sooner had the two teenagers grabbed him when Aleena and Jules pulled all three kids into a big group hug, bringing the entire family back together for the first time in too long.

"We won't let anyone hurt you ever again, bro," said Sonic.

"Yeah, they're gonna get whoever did that to you," said Sonia.

"Am…am I dreaming?" asked Scourge, still wondering if this was actually happening.

"No, it's all real. You're safe and we're gonna take you home," said Sonic.

"Thank God." said Scourge, "Where am I?"

"You're in the hospital. The police found you and brought you here after they traced your call. You were out for a week because you'd lost a lot of blood, but your mom gave you some of her own," said Jules.

Mrs. Hedge had given her own blood to save his life. She truly believed he was her son.

"It was worth it. I just can't believe you're finally home," said Aleena, hugging Scourge tighter (if that was even possible).

"Did that hurt?" asked Sonia.

Scourge looked to where she was pointing, at his arm, where scars made unnatural patterns in his fur.

"Yes, it did…he used the belt," said Scourge.

Sonia was at a loss for words at the cruelty evidenced by the scars on her big brother. How could anyone live with themselves, knowing they'd done that to a child?

"My baby…" said Aleena.

"That man is going to rot in prison. If he does somehow avoid the death penalty, he'll still have to spend the rest of his life locked up with others who are just like him," said Jules.

_How fitting._ thought Scourge.

"Sooo…what's home like?" It's been a while since I last saw it," lied Scourge.

"It's still the same. We left your room the way it was when you were taken," said Aleena, drying her eyes.

That worried Scourge a bit. Now he'd have to pretend that he recognized everything. But then an idea came to him.

"Mom. How long have I been gone?"

"It will have been 5 years this June," said Aleena, uncomfortable with the memory.

_Perfect. I wouldn't be able to remember much even if I was Manic._ thought Scourge.

"Well, the good thing is that our prayers were finally answered and you're alive and well. We're gonna do all we can to get you back on your feet," said Jules.

"Yeah, just wait until we get home," said Sonic, putting his hand on Scourge's shoulder.

"I don't think I can," said Scourge, half smiling.

"That's not all. Since you're finally coming home, mom and dad said we get to par-tay!" said Sonia excitedly…until she noticed the green one staring at her in confusion. "That means pizza and stuff."

That peaked Scourge's interest. The one time Robotnik had treated him like a person was when he let him watch TV and have pizza. Before he found out about Manic's family, pizza was all he could think about. Nice hot bread crust topped with gooey melted cheese over tangy tomato sauce in between. Just thinking about it made his stomach growl, but that was before he wanted Manic's family. Now he could have both.

"Tell me I'm not dreaming," said Scourge, smiling for the first time.

Could it possibly get any better than this?

"The doctor said that if you were feeling well enough, we'd be able to bring you home tonight," said Jules.

This was all too much. He was going to have the family he'd always wanted that would love him back, a real home that he could call his own, AND he got to have pizza again, all in the same day.

"I love you guys," he said, shedding tears of joy.

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	3. Homecoming Party

**Sorry this took so long, but I was working on the next chapter of a Zelda fic called **_**Forgotten Legacy**_** (which I recommend checking out). **

**Now it's time to PARTY: P-A-R-T-whY? Cuz I gotta. :D**

After checking him out of the hospital, the Hedges brought Scourge home in their car. On the way home, he was awed by the sites and places that they passed by, as well as the feeling of going fast without the danger of hitting something. It was the first time he'd ridden in a car…at least as far as he could remember. After all, Robotnik had once told him that he was his step-son, as opposed to being his real son, which meant he had taken Scourge from somewhere else, just like he did Manic, though he'd never told Scourge where he got him from, so perhaps he'd ridden in a car with someone before Robotnik had "adopted" him, but he couldn't recall where, so he put those thoughts to the back of his mind as he enjoyed the ride.

Eventually, they got to the house, which was a lot bigger than Robotnik's shack, and WAY nicer, even from the outside. It wasn't a mansion, but then again, Scourge had never seen a real house, much less been in one, so it was still breathtaking.

"It…looks really big." said Scourge, looking out the window.

"So do you," replied Jules, "things usually look different when you've been away for a long time."

"Yeah, I guess so." said Scourge.

Sonic and Sonia helped him step out of the car so that he wouldn't break the stitches on his stomach by mistake. He slowly climbed out of the car and slowly stood up straight, letting the stitched up scar stretch out so it wouldn't open up again. It was dark out and the moon was behind some clouds, so he couldn't really see a whole lot, yet he still could not believe this would be his home now. Hard to believe this was really happening.

"Is there anything you need us to bring in?" Sonia asked.

"Nope, everything's in the house." said Aleena, winking.

Jules was the first to reach the door and used his key to unlock the door. As they entered, Scourge heard a very strange noise.

"Chao! Chao!"

"What's that?" asked Scourge, fearing someone had broken into the house.

Sonia turned giddy.

"That's my pet chao, Sophia. I got her for my birthday, two years ago." she said. "She's my baby." :3

"Chao!" it squeaked.

It was still dark in the house, so Scourge couldn't see anything, until Sonic flipped a switch near the door and the lights came on to reveal a fancy looking foyer. To Scourge's right was a dining room with a table in the middle of it, covered with plates and glasses, underneath a hanging chandelier. To his left was an office with a desk and computer, probably where Jules or Aleena did their work. In front of Scourge was a flight of stairs that went upstairs. Between the stairs and the office was a hallway that led to the family room where a large flat screen TV sat in front of two couches set beside each other. What amazed Scourge the most was how clean and pristine everything was, especially when compared to Robotnik's small house which was full of food boxes and beer cans, and he thought he remembered seeing roaches once or twice when he had been taken out of the basement. With everything Manic had, it wasn't that hard to see why he didn't last long in Robotnik's house. At least he was sparing his family the horrible truth, so maybe this wasn't so bad after all.

"This is a lot cleaner than Robotnik's place." said Scourge in amazement.

"And it's got locks on the doors and windows, so nobody will be able to get in." said Jules, winking.

While it should have been obvious, hearing it from someone actually made Scourge feel better. At least no one would be able to break in and possibly kidnap him again.

"And whatever happened to you, all that's in the past. You are here to stay with us." said Aleena, sensing Scourge's uneasiness.

"Now let's par-tay!" said Sonia, eager to get at the pizza.

Speaking of which…

"Where's the pizza Sonia mentioned?" asked Scourge.

"In the kitchen." said Sonic, taking off his shoes and racing for the said kitchen with Sonia close behind.

"Better hurry, there's only 3 pizzas." laughed Jules.

_3 pizzas?!? I thought we only got one._ thought Scourge, his face growing ravenous as he took off his new shoes Jules and Aleena had gotten him and then ran into the kitchen to find Sonic and Sonia opening one of the pizza boxes and cannibalizing a pepperoni pizza.

Next to the opened pizza box was two other unopened pizza boxes with the words _Papa John's_ written on them. Next to those boxes were 3 bottles full of black liquid. The first two bottles were bright red with the words _Coca-Cola_ inscribed on them, while the second bottle was gray with the words _Diet Coke_ written on it.

"What kind of beer is that?" asked Scourge.

"What beer?" asked Sonic, looking around in confusion.

"That." replied Scourge, pointing at the bottles next to the pizza.

"Oh, that's not beer, it's soda. Sonia still calls it pop, though." snickered Sonic.

"You call me?" asked Jules jokingly.

Aleena started laughing.

"How would you not remember _pop_?" asked Sonia, her eyes like saucers.

_Aw crap. Now they'll know. _thought Scourge.

He'd have to be convincing.

"It's…been so long that I have trouble remembering things. The only thing Robotnik had besides water was beer, so I figured that's what this was." muttered Scourge, his ears drooping.

For a moment, everyone remained silent, but then Sonia broke in.

"Well you gotta try this." she said, pouring a glass of coke and handing it to Scourge.

He took the glass and stared at the black bubbling liquid, wondering how it could possibly be different from beer or water. Given their reaction to him mentioning beer, it was probably a good thing he hadn't told them that Robotnik sometimes made him drink beer until he got drunk so he couldn't resist when Robotnik did his thing.

Putting that from his mind, Scourge put the glass to his lips and let the pop- _or was it soda?_- slide in. The first thing he noticed was that the coke tasted a bit like cinnamon, but with a sharp fizz that made his throat burn. He quickly swallowed it and felt like he was inflating.

"Ohh…I don't feel too good." he grumbled, holding his stomach.

The strange feeling was only getting worse. It felt like he was going to explode.

"It's alright, just let it out." said Sonic.

What did he mean by that?

As if to answer his own question, Scourge felt the pressure in his stomach rising into his chest, and before he could stop it, the gas escaped his mouth in a loud burp, taking the pressure with it. Scourge sighed in relief.

"Good one." said Sonic, giving Scourge a pat on the back.

"I'd give that one an 8." smirked Jules.

"Jules?!?" scowled Aleena.

"On second thought, I'll just stick with water." said Scourge, setting the glass of coke down.

"Chao!" called Sophia.

"Omigawsh, I forgot about her!" said Sonia, setting down her glass and running upstairs to her room.

Scourge turned his attention to the pizza and picked up a large slice. In fact, saying it was large did little justice to it's true size since it made the Dominoe's pizza Robotnik shared with him look like a small pie in comparison. He opened his mouth and slid in a good portion of the slice before biting it off. He soon lost himself in a world of cheese and tomato sauce. This pizza wasn't just bigger than Robotnik's, the cheese was better and the sauce was tangier, and he hadn't even gotten to the pepperonis yet.

"I judge this pizza to be good." mused Scourge, smiling.

Jules and Aleena both laughed.

"Now you're talking." said Sonic.

"Chao! Chao!"

Scourge looked over to the foyer where the noise was coming from and saw Sonia standing there holding what looked like a blue teddy bear, minus the ears.

"This is Sophia." said Sonia, grinning from ear to ear. "And Sophia, this is Manic."

Scourge put his pizza down and walked over to the pair and tried to pet Sophia, but the chao grabbed his hand and started licking it.

"I think she's trying to lick the grease off your hands." laughed Sonia.

"Does that mean she's hungry?" asked Scourge.

"She must be. I haven't fed her in almost a day."

"I got something she might like." said Sonic, bringing over a pepperoni and extending it to the Chao which quickly gobbled it up.

Scourge heard a hissing noise and looked at the table to see Aleena and Jules opening the diet coke and pouring it into wine glasses. For some reason, the sight of the two enjoying each other's company made him happy inside. Perhaps it just added to the already pleasant atmosphere that pervaded the night.

"Why don't we bring this into the family room?" suggested Sonic.

"That sounds like a good idea." said Aleena.

Aleena, Jules, and Sonic picked up the pizza boxes and brought them into the family room while Scourge got the coke and brought it in. As he did, Jules went back to the kitchen to get the glasses and brought them in. Scourge then sat in the middle of the three cushion couch with Sonia and Sonic sitting on either side of him while Aleena and Jules sat on the two cushion couch to their left.

"Chao!" squeaked Sophia, eager to check out the new visitor as she climbed out of Sonia's arms and used it's wings to hover like a humming bird over to Scourge before setting itself down in his lap.

Scourge picked up the Chao and cuddled it in his own arms the way Sonia did it. The peaceful moment was interrupted by Sonia holding a paper plate with Scourge's half eaten pizza on it under Scourge's nose.

"You still haven't finished this." she said.

"Right," said Scourge, taking the pizza with one hand while cuddling Sophia with the other one, "So what did I miss while I was out?"

They all continued to share the pizza while talking about everything that had happened in the past 5 years. As they were talking, Scourge looked down and noticed that Sophia had fallen asleep, and she had also turned peach colored, absorbing the color of Scourge's arm fur and blending in with it. It seemed even the family pet had fallen in love with him.

"It's good to be home." sighed Scourge.

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	4. Night Terror

While they had been talking and eating pizza, Scourge was surprised when they told him how much time they had spent looking for him. Sure he knew they wanted their son back, but he didn't think anybody would be so desperate as to look and ask around for their lost boy every single day since he had vanished. Only when they told him that did it finally sink in that they really cared for him. He had assumed that they had always been happy together like this, but from what they had told him, this was the first night in years they had spent together just having fun without worrying where Manic was and praying he was ok, and when they heard that Manic had been found and was barely alive, Aleena raced to the hospital to make sure it was in fact her son and that he was indeed alive, and when she got there and saw him, she recognized him as her own and then passed out on the floor from sheer relief and joy that had overwhelmed her. When the paramedics woke her up, she refused any medical attention offered to her so that she could see her son and even donated some of her blood to him once she found out that Manic had lost a lot of it from a large stab wound. After that, she and the rest of the family spent the whole week praying that Manic would live to see them again, and then one day, he woke up. It was the first time in almost 5 years that they could finally stop worrying about their dear Manic, because there he was, alive and well. In fact, they were all so relieved that they all nearly passed out, themselves.

Despite being smothered with love, Scourge had no idea they wanted Manic back that badly. With the way Robotnik claimed he was 'disciplining' him because he loved him, Scourge had assumed that affection was a childish whim and had nothing to do with true love, but after hearing everything the Hedges had told him, he wasn't so sure. Maybe affection wasn't so childish if Manic's parents showed it. That, or they themselves were childish. Either way, Scourge didn't care anymore. Robotnik was out of his life and he would stay with a family that cared for him, even if it was only because they thought he was another person who, in reality, was rotting underneath Robotnik's basement, but they'd never know unless they decided to go dig a hole in said basement for no reason, and that wasn't very likely. But he forced those thoughts from his mind as they talked and joked about the things they'd do now that all that was over.

After they finished their little party, they had decided to go to bed. Sonic and Sonia went to their own rooms while Aleena and Jules led Scourge to Manic's room to show him everything folded and stacked neatly. Except for the tidiness, the Hedges said they had left Manic's room exactly the way it was the day he had been taken. He was looking into Manic's past, which scared him a little, until he remembered that no one would know about Manic unless he told them, and he didn't believe in ghosts, so it wasn't like Manic would come back to haunt him.

"Well, goodnight, son." said Jules, hugging Scourge one more time.

"Goodnight mom. Goodnight, dad." said Scourge, hugging both of them.

After they left, he turned back to his new room. He still could not believe any of this was actually happening. He finally had his own bedroom, and it had all kinds of cool stuff in it. Across from the bed was an old N64 with several games stacked beside it. Scourge would have played them, but he was tired, so he decided to go to bed. However, he didn't like being alone again, even if he was in a real bedroom this time. The feeling of isolation from his days as a prisoner still haunted him, so he left the light on as he pulled back the covers and climbed into his own bed for the first time.

As he hit the mattress, the fear of being alone left his mind as the softness of the bed overtook him. Way softer than the hospital bed. In fact, it was almost too soft for him because his back, which was use to the pile of rags in Robotnik's basement, started loosening up as his back muscles adjusted to the fluffy comforter. It was like laying on a cloud and sinking into it. Scourge tightened himself up, forcing the tension out until he became use to the softness and finally let himself relax. After a moment, he remembered the covers and pulled them over himself. The first thing he noticed about them was how warm and comfy they were as they enveloped his entire body, unlike the short rags which only covered his legs or his upper body. He couldn't remember ever feeling anything that comfortable before in his life. Another thing he noticed about his new bed was the smell. The rag pile he'd slept on his whole life smelled kind of funny. He had grown use to the odor and only noticed it when he spent enough time away from the rags. This bed, however, smelled clean and fresh and he forced himself to stay awake a bit longer just so he could breathe in the new scent. He couldn't really describe what the smell was exactly, but it was clean and he liked it.

Again, this was all too good to be true. Maybe after he woke up the next day, he'd find out if this was all real or if it was just another dream like the one he'd had about Aleena.

That thought alone made him uneasy. He pinched himself to make sure he wasn't dreaming, but it still didn't bring him any comfort. Was all this just a dream that would disappear once he woke up? Would he wake up in Robotnik's basement or bedroom the next day?

The more Scourge thought about it, the more he began to think this was all a figment of his imagination. Even the comfort of his new bed did little to ease his troubled mind. He could only watch as the room slowly faded into blackness…

-

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-

-

-

-

Out of nowhere, a pair of hands grabbed Scourge and forced him into a car. He had no idea what was going on until he saw the person's face.

Robotnik!!!

So it really was just a dream after all. He knew it was too good to be true.

"Now I'll teach you to be good." said Robotnik, grinning maniacally.

He was going to kill him, just like he did Manic.

_No, it can't end like this._

"HELP! I'M BEING KIDNAPPED!" shrieked Scourge, terrified out of his mind.

"Shut up!" growled Robotnik.

"SOMEONE PLEASE HEEELLLLP!" he screamed, hoping someone, anyone would hear him.

"I said SHUT UP!" shouted Robotnik, slapping Scourge in the face.

"NO! NO! NOOOO!" screamed Scourge, waving and kicking frantically, his voice shrill and high.

"I said be quiet, Manic." said Robotnik, grabbing Scourge and shaking him.

The realization that he was going to die was too horrible for Scourge, who could only scream and kick for all he was worth.

"Manic…Manic!" said Robotnik, throttling the hedgehog.

"GAAAAAHHHHH!!!!" wailed Scourge, swatting at Robotnik's arms.

"MANIC!"

Scourge's eyes finally shot open to see not Robotnik, but Aleena holding him. He could also see Jules, Sonic, and Sonia standing around him. He was back in Manic's room. It was all just a dream. A nightmare to be more exact.

"Mom!" sobbed Scourge, burying himself in her arms.

"It was just a dream." she said, holding him protectively.

"Don't let him take me again." sobbed Scourge bitterly.

"Take it easy, Manic." said Jules, who was behind Aleena, "Robotnik is unconscious and even if he somehow does make it, he doesn't know where we live."

"Yeah, and dad has a forty-five that says it won't matter if Robotnik does know where we are." said Sonic.

Scourge felt better after hearing all that, but he was still shaken from the nightmare and couldn't do anything other than cry into Aleena's shoulder. He seriously thought Robotnik came back to kill him.

He felt several pairs of arms wrapping around him in a familiar way and he looked up to see several forms that he knew were Jules and Manic's two siblings, but the tears in his eyes made them appear blurry.

"We're here for you, Manic. We'll never let Robotnik take you again." said Sonia.

Scourge still couldn't see her very clearly, but he noticed that she sounded a bit choked up, like she had been crying, too. At least she seemed to understand his pain a bit.

"I don't want to be alone." he croaked.

"Would you like us to stay with you?" asked Aleena.

"Yes." replied Scourge without hesitation.

If they were offering to keep him company, he wasn't going to say no.

Jules, Sonic, and Sonia sat down on the bed next to Scourge and Aleena and group hugged him once more.

This seemed to help Scourge calm down as his sobs quieted and finally stopped altogether. Aleena continued to hold him while running her fingers through his quills while singing a lullaby to him.

"Go to sleep my darling, close your little eyes…"

"Angels are above us, peeping through the skies…"

"God is in his heaven, and he's watching his keep…"

"Time for little children to go to sleep…"

As Scourge listened to her soft, silky voice, his eyelids began to grow heavy…and eventually closed. Once again, Jules, Aleena, Sonic, and Sonia had saved him.

More than a bed ever could have.


	5. Waffles in the Morning

The first thing Scourge noticed was that he was laying on his side instead of his back, and he felt very warm, which was not how he usually woke up since the basement got pretty chilly, even on hot days, so he almost always woke up feeling stiff in one place or another, depending on which part of him the small rags couldn't cover. This time, however, he felt quite comfortable. His eyelids fluttered open and he couldn't see anything, until he realized his face was buried in something, so he pulled back to see…Aleena? That woman he had dreamed was his mother, the dream where she had been holding him like she was now. Did it actually come true?

Scourge looked around the room he was in but then he noticed three other hedgehogs on the floor. One was a big blue hedgehog with two smaller ones curled up next to him, all of them asleep. That was when it all came back to him, the hospital, the pizza, the nightmare, everything.

_So it DID come true._ Scourge thought to himself.

Relieved, he curled up in Aleena's arms once more and went back to sleep since the sun was still coming up outside.

(...)

"Manic…wake up, Manic."

Scourge opened his eyes to see Aleena smiling at him. The room had gotten brighter from the sun coming up, which meant he slept for an hour or two after he'd gone back to sleep, but her smile made it even brighter.

"Good morning." she said, smiling.

Once more, Scourge's mind flipped back to the dream of Aleena holding him in the snow. It used to be the only thing that kept him going, but now it was only a dream from the past.

_A faded memory gone with the wind._

"I missed you so much." said Manic, hugging her more tightly.

It wasn't far from the truth.

"I missed you, too. We all did." replied Aleena, hugging her baby boy even tighter, something she hadn't been able to do in 5 years.

Scourge burrowed further into her warm embrace. He'd only been with her for about a day and had only become aware of her almost three weeks ago, yet he felt as if he had known her his entire life and wanted nothing more than to be held by her, to be loved by her. As she ruffled his quills once more, he felt a familiar purring inside himself. Aleena also seemed to notice and couldn't help giggling.

A moment later, Scourge heard someone stirring behind Aleena and saw Sonic standing up behind her, gazing around the room like a hatched chick seeing the world for the first time. More likely, he was figuring out how he'd gotten into this room since it wasn't his own. After a few seconds, he rubbed his eyes and lazily staggered out of the room, scratching his butt.

Scourge expected Sonia and Jules to do the same, but silence was all he heard. Maybe they were still asleep.

"I think it's time we got up." said Aleena as she threw back the covers.

Scourge had to agree since his stomach was starting to growl. If he didn't have to worry about starving, he'd be foolish not to get some food when it was available. He looked down at the floor as Aleena gently shook her husband awake. Jules opened his eyes to see his daughter curled up next to him, asleep. When they all fell asleep, she must have crawled next to him to stay warm. Rather than shake her awake, he wrapped his arms around her and brought her close to him the way Aleena had done with Scourge.

Sonia moaned in her sleep but still didn't wake up. If anything, her slumber only deepened in her dad's arms.

"You know she'll have to wake up, eventually." said Aleena, still smiling.

"Spoil sport." laughed Jules.

Scourge finally found the strength to sit up and tried to stretch, but his stitches protested painfully, so he laid himself back down instead.

"Mmmf?" moaned Sonia.

The crimson colored hedgie raised her head and looked at her surroundings the way Sonic had.

"For a moment I forgot why I was in here." she finally said, laughing.

"I think Sonic did, too." pointed out Scourge.

"I noticed he was missing. Where'd he run off to?" asked Jules.

The sound of a shower turning on was their answer.

"Good idea," said Sonia, "I wouldn't be able to function without my morning shower."

"Uhhh…what's a shower again?" asked Scourge.

Everyone stared at him.

"You never got a shower in…the other house?" asked Sonia.

"No, mostly I just stayed…"

Before he could he could finish his sentence, all the loneliness and fear came back to him.

"Manic?" said Jules.

No response. Scourge's gaze fell to the floor.

"Manic!" said Aleena, trying to snap him out of it.

Scourge's chin quivered slightly while his eyes watered.

"Manic, say something!" said Aleena.

Both Jules and Aleena reached for Scourge. Their hands resting on his shoulders. This seemed to snap Scourge out of his trance. He looked up at them in surprise.

"Are you alright?" asked Aleena.

"Yeah, I'm fine. What happened?" asked Scourge.

"You kinda blacked out for a moment." replied Jules.

"I did?" asked Scourge.

"Yeah, you were thinking about…a certain something and then you went into some sort of trance." said Sonia.

There did seem to be some truth to what she was saying. Scourge knew they were having some sort of friendly conversation only seconds before, but he couldn't remember the last part of it. It was as if he had had some kind of memory lapse.

"Huh. Well I'm ok now. What's there to eat?" he asked.

Jules' face lit up.

"Ah yes. I got just the thing for this occasion." he said.

"What's that?" asked Sonia eagerly?"

"How does bacon, eggs, and waffles sound?" asked Jules.

"WOO!" whooped Sonia and Aleena, their hands in the air.

_Waffles?…they sound familiar, but I can't remember when I last had them. _Thought Scourge.

"How bout you, Manic?" asked Jules.

"Sure, I guess." replied Scourge, not quite sure what waffles were.

"Alright then, I'll get started on them." said Jules, heading downstairs.

"Not without me you're not." replied Aleena following him.

"What if we all made breakfast together?" asked Sonia.

"I suppose we could." said Jules.

"Alright, let's go." said Sonia, beckoning to Scourge.

Scourge wasn't too thrilled at the idea of having to make breakfast, but it was much better than being alone in a cold, dank basement with absolutely nothing to do. He got out of bed, slowly to make sure he didn't break any of the stitches on his chest, and then went down to join Aleena, Jules, and Sonia in the kitchen. Jules and Sonia were at the oven putting stuff into pans and heating them up while Aleena was mixing a white substance together in a bowl on the countertop of an island like cabinet in the middle of the kitchen.

"What's that?" asked Scourge, walking over to where Aleena was.

"Pancake mix." she said.

"What are pancakes?" asked Scourge.

"You really don't remember?" asked Aleena.

"Sorry, it's been a while." said Scourge, awkwardly.

"Oh don't be sorry, I'm just a bit surprised you wouldn't remember something like pancakes or waffles since you use to love them." said Aleena.

_I'm in big trouble. Better be convincing._ thought Scourge.

"Well, nothing like getting use to them all over again." said Scourge, smiling.

"Well I'll be glad to help you out with that." said Aleena, stirring up the mix.

"Need any help?" asked Scourge.

"You could get the waffle maker." said Aleena, pointing to another cabinet.

Scourge opened the cabinet door and pulled out a weird metallic device with a power cord attached to it.

"Place it up here." said Aleena, pointing next to the bowl of pancake mix.

Scourge set it down and plugged it into an outlet on the side of the island cabinet.

"So what now?" he asked.

"We have to wait for it to heat up and then we'll put the mix in." said Aleena.

As she said that, something in Scourge's mind snapped into place.

"I think I get it now. The pancakes are the flat patties while the waffles are the ones that go in the waffle maker." said Scourge.

"Now you're getting it." congratulated Aleena.

Scourge had no idea where that idea came from, but he wouldn't complain as long as it made things easier for him, so he thought nothing of it.

A heavy sizzling- and a delicious smell- drew Scourge's attention toward Sonia and Jules who were poised over the stove.

"Whatcha makin?" he asked, looking over their shoulders.

"What Jamaican?" asked Jules in a Jamaican accent, "Jamaican is mon who get high."

Sonia and Scourge both laughed.

"I'm doing bacon. Sonia's doing scrambled eggs." continued Jules.

Unlike waffles, Scourge immediately recognized the eggs and bacon. Both of which made his stomach growl even louder. It fascinated him to watch the pink slabs of meat slowly turn into edible brown strips of goodness while Sonia cracked open a dozen white shells and turned their gooey contents into a golden work of art.

"Aw man, you guys started without me."

Everyone looked to the top of the steps to see Sonic standing there in a new shirt and shorts.

"But we haven't finished. Come on down, the waffle maker is ready." said Aleena.

Sonic reached the bottom of the stairs as soon as she finished her sentence and was in the kitchen before Scourge could say 'wow.'

"Wow." said Scourge.

Sonic and Scourge took turns pouring pancake mix into the waffle maker and made waffles with it while Aleena set the silverware on the table. While Scourge was making another waffle, Sonic got the orange juice and milk out of the fridge and set it down in the middle of the table next to the salt and pepper and then got the butter out.

Eventually, everyone finished their preparations and set the dishes of food down on the table. Scourge stared in awe at what they had accomplished. On one platter was a mountain of bacon, on another was a big stack of waffles that he, Sonic, and Aleena made, and in a large bowl was a big pile of scrambled eggs. The sight of all that food was near torture to Scourge who had lived off of bread and water for most of his life. Who knew making a meal this big could be so easy? And at the same time, so satisfying?

The family took seats around the table. Scourge sat closest to the waffles and bacon.

"Would you say grace, Manic?" asked Aleena.

_Oh come on._ thought Scourge, desperate to start chowin.

How did one say grace? Did it involve praying? Scourge had never really given God much thought and didn't really believe in him.

_On the other hand, I did ask the big guy to help me escape Robotnik a few times in my life, and now here I am with the family I always wanted. I suppose I owe him that much._

Scourge folded his hands together the way everyone else was doing and began.

"Uhh…thank you for the food you have given us…and…bless the family that prepared it…and may they continue to receive the kind of happiness they have given me...amen." said Scourge.

"That was beautiful, Manic." said Jules.

Scourge was more surprised than relieved. He had only planned on saying something to sound legitimate, but instead, he had impressed even himself. If anything, he could have sworn someone else had put those words in his mouth. Nonetheless, he'd made the Hedge family happy and that was good enough for him. After stacking eggs and bacon on his plate, he added a waffle to the mix and poured syrup and melted butter over it and poured himself some tangy orange juice. There was no way he was going to miss out on any of the goodies set on the table.

Nothing to start a day like waffles.


	6. First Day of the Rest of my Life

After finishing the food, they cleared the table and washed off the dishes before drying and putting them back in the cupboards. After that, Sonia raced upstairs to get the shower before anyone else.

"When she said she couldn't function without a shower, she wasn't kidding." said Jules.

"So whose gonna use the one in our room first? You or me?" asked Aleena.

"You go first, I'm a guy. I can handle being dirty." replied Jules, winking.

"Awesome." said Aleena, running up the stairs almost as fast as Sonia had.

"Women." said Sonic, jokingly as he collapsed on the couch in the family room with some cold pizza from the fridge, left over from the night before.

Jules and Scourge soon joined him.

Scourge wondered how Sonic could eat so much without stuffing himself. As he rested on the couch, he thought back to the waffles, bacon, eggs, and everything else. That had to be the best meal he'd ever had. Sure the pizza was good, but the breakfast he'd just finished had both the meaty bacon and the sweetness of the waffle cakes to go with it, not to mention the familiar warm feeling he got from sitting at the table with the rest of the family, and unlike the bread and water Robotnik fed him, this breakfast left him feeling full. That might not have sounded like a big deal to anyone else, but it was major for someone who had spent their life wondering what having a whole meal was even like.

It wasn't hard to see why Manic didn't last long in Robotnik's house.

Scourge's thoughts were interrupted when Jules got up off the couch and laid himself down on the floor, face down, and pushed himself up with only his arms and then lowered himself back down, but kept himself an inch above the floor, and then pushed himself back up. He repeated this at least 20 times before Scourge asked him what he was doing.

"It's called push ups. It helps build up muscle in your arms and chest." said Jules, "I forgot to do mine when I woke up, so I thought I'd get them out of the way as soon as possible."

_Muscle, eh?_

The idea of growing stronger was certainly appealing to Scourge since he was little more than skin and bones.

"How strong does it make you?" he asked.

"Quite a bit, but if you want to get intimidating, it's best to try using the weight machines down in the basement." said Sonic.

Scourge went silent.

"Is there something wrong with that?" asked Sonic.

Scourge said nothing and turned away from Sonic and Jules.

"Manic?" said Jules, moving toward the green hedgehog, fearing another emotional episode.

He placed his hand on Scourge's shoulder and slowly turned him around. Scourge's eyes were closed but tear stains soaked his face below his eyes.

"What's wrong?" asked Jules.

"You…you're not gonna make me stay in the basement, are you?" asked Scourge, opening his eyes.

"Wha-"

Even before Jules finished, he realized what the problem was.

"You were kept in the basement?" he asked.

A sob escaped Scourge's lips as more tears slid down his face. Scourge looked away, trying to hide his embarrassment. He never cried if he could help it. The only time he cried was when Robotnik caused him unimaginable pain, which made such an emotional display the equivalent of showing childish weakness, making it all the more humiliating for him. The very mention of any basement brought back the fear and isolation that had been his life until a week before and he couldn't bear such memories, even if they were behind him.

But then Jules pulled him into a hug and Scourge buried his face in his chest, trying to hide the shame and pain.

"It's alright, just let it out." said Jules, holding him gently.

He spoke too late as Scourge was already crying silently.

Jules said nothing and did nothing except hold his boy close to let him know that he was safe.

"No, I won't force you to go in the basement if it bothers you that much. You're always welcome to go wherever you want to in this house. It's yours now." said Jules.

That seemed to ease Scourge's nerves a bit as the sobbing had died down.

Sonic got off the couch and put his arms around his brother, attempting to comfort him. After seeing his own brother again for the first time in years, it was painful to see him changed so drastically from the mischievous, fun loving hedgie he had once been, and he would do anything to get back the bro he once knew.

For a while, the three stayed there on the couch like that until Aleena finished showering and came downstairs in a new shirt and pants.

"What's going on?" she asked, seeing Scourge sandwiched in between his brother and father's embrace.

"It's…I'll explain later." said Jules, not wanting to bring up the basement again.

"Oh, alright." replied Aleena, getting the hint.

"Man, Sonia must have really needed that shower." said Sonic, annoyed.

"Why? What's wrong?" asked Scourge, forgetting about the basement.

"Well when Sonia uses the shower, she loses track of time in there and almost never comes out." said Sonic. "And as a result, she uses up A LOT of hot water, so I set her alarm clock back an hour so she'd wake up later than everyone else."

No sooner had Sonic finished when a faint noise could be heard coming from Sonia's room.

_Do ya like waffles?_

_Yeah we like waffles._

_Do ya like pancakes?_

_Yeah we like pancakes._

_Do ya like French toast?_

_Yeah we like French toast._

_Do do dodo can't wait to get a mouthful. _

_WAFFLES!_

Aleena was already laughing.

"What the heck was that?" asked Scourge.

"Her alarm clock." replied Sonic.

Right about then, the faint hissing noise upstairs stopped and a minute later, Sonia emerged from the bathroom in a new tank top and shorts.

"Well that was faster than usual." said Jules, pleasantly surprised.

"Yeah I know what you're all thinking." Said Sonia.

"I sure hope so." said Sonic.

"Well I made sure to get in and get out so Manic could have plenty of hot water for his shower." said Sonia, smirking defiantly.

Sonic was completely stumped.

"I stand corrected." he said simply.

"That was very thoughtful of you." said Aleena.

"Well, I guess it's time we showered." said Jules, getting up and heading to his own shower.

"Make sure you bring an extra set of clothes with you into the bathroom." said Sonia.

"I don't have any clothes, just the ones you gave me at the hospital." said Scourge awkwardly.

"We didn't know how big you'd be when you were found, so we were waiting until you got home to go shopping for new clothes since your old ones don't fit." said Aleena.

"You can use some of mine until we get you some new clothes." said Sonic, getting up and heading to his room.

Scourge followed him.

They headed upstairs and went into Sonic's room, which was right beside Manic's, and went to the closet where Sonic helped Scourge pick out a pair of pants and a t-shirt. Sonic then gave him a pair of socks and underwear and then introduced him to the shower.

"You remember how this works?" asked Sonic.

"Not really?" said Scourge.

"Wow. Ok, basically, you just turn on the faucet and wait for the water to get warm if it isn't warm already and then let it run all over you until you're completely wet and then you lather yourself up with this shampoo here, and then rinse it out with the water and then you get out and dry yourself off, but only after you've thoroughly cleaned yourself." said Sonic, pointing to all the various items in the shower.

That seemed simple enough, almost routine, as if he'd done it before.

"Sounds easy." said Scourge.

"Alright then, have at it." said Sonic, leaving the bathroom and shutting the door behind him.

Scourge took off the shirt and shorts he was wearing, but then looked around one more time to make sure no one was looking at him as he was not use to having privacy that Robotnik couldn't violate anytime he wanted to, but after he was sure he was safe from prying eyes, he put a towel down on the floor in front of the shower and turned the faucet on and the water coming out felt warm enough, so he stepped inside and let it run all over him.

Words could not describe the wonderful feel of the hot water. Every stiff joint and sore muscle was relaxed by the warmth cascading over him, relieving most of the tension he felt, and allowing him to bend and stretch a bit more.

Then he remembered the shampoo and picked up an orange bottle with the label _Citrus Blast_.

"Okaaaay?" he said to himself.

He opened the bottle and squeezed out an orange goo and almost instantly, his senses were overtaken by a powerful sweet smell. He held the shampoo up to his nose and got lost in it's fruity aroma. Then he got curious about how it tasted and stuck his tongue into it and spat it back out in disgust. It smelled like heaven, but it tasted like hell.

Then again, it was for cleaning, not for eating.

Scourge then rubbed the shampoo all over himself, making sure his fur and quills were completely covered in the stuff until his entire body was soaped up. Yet, his fur still felt stickier than it should. After all, this was several years worth of sweat and dirt that had yet to be washed out. He'd been told that the doctors had given him sponge baths, which got a good deal of the grime out of his fur, but not all of it, so while they were able to get most of the smell out, they hadn't fully cleaned him, so he'd have to finish the job.

He made sure to scrub every inch of himself, working the soap into his fur, and his quills, especially, and kept at it until he was sure most of the knots were out. Only then did he allow the warm water to wash the soap and dirt off of him, and then let some more water cascade over him just to enjoy it's warmth one last time, and then shut it off and stepped out onto the towel and used it to dry himself off. After he was done, he used the towel to wipe the fog off the mirror and immediately noticed the difference. His fur looked even brighter and greener now that it was clean. It also looked fluffier now that it wasn't matted down.

Scourge then put on the shirt and pants Sonic had given him and again he couldn't help admiring himself in the mirror. He felt like a new person. Today, he _was_ a new person, and he was going to make the most of his new life. If this family had been kind enough to take him in, he would do everything he could to be the son he knew they wanted.

"Make sure you brush your teeth, too." said Sonia from outside the bathroom.

It was pretty obvious what she meant since the name _toothbrush_ spoke for itself.

"Where are they?" asked Scourge.

"Check in the drawers. Use one of the new ones." replied Sonia.

Scourge opened one drawer but all he found were a few combs, but since he found them, he decided to use one and combed the thick fur on his face and made sure to spike up the hair on his head so he'd look more like Manic. It wasn't often that Robotnik cut his hair, and it had been a while since it had last been cut, so it was long enough to be combed out and spiked. When Scourge was finished, he was surprised at how similar he looked to the now deceased Manic.

"Ya almost done?" asked Sonia.

Only then did Scourge remember the toothbrushes.

"Hold on, I was combing my hair." he said.

He opened another drawer and found several toothbrushes still in their packaging. He picked out a green one and ripped open the small box and squeezed some toothpaste onto it and brushed out his entire mouth before washing out the bristles and putting it into a cup next to two other toothbrushes that were blue and red. He then noticed some citrus flavored mouthwash.

_Maybe now I'll get something citrusy to taste._ he thought as he unscrewed the lid.

He poured some of the liquid into the lid and tipped it into his mouth and almost spat it back out because of how hot it was, but stuck with it until he was sure his mouth was fully sanitized and then spat it out into the sink.

After washing out the sink and putting away the mouthwash and toothpaste, he was finally ready and stepped out of the bathroom to see two pleasantly surprised hedgies.

"You're definitely back." said Sonic, smiling.

"Ya know, if you were a bit shorter, you wouldn't look any different than you did 5 years ago." said Sonia.

"Well I did try to keep my hair just right." said Scourge.

"No, I mean you're wearing the same clothes you did in the photo we gave to the police." said Sonia.

"What?" asked Scourge, surprised.

"Actually, I gave you a pair of pants and a shirt that looked just like the ones from your missing photo since you've outgrown the original pair. You don't look a day older." laughed Sonic.

"See for yourself." said Sonia, grabbing a newspaper off a table nearby and handing it to Scourge who looked at the picture of the missing Manic.

He was wearing the exact same type of blue jeans and white t-shirt and had the same hairstyle, though Scourge already knew about that last one, but except for the size and age difference, there wasn't a single feature left to distinguish the two.

_Manic's an exact copy of me. We're not related, so how can that be? It's almost as if…no…that's not possible._ thought the green hedgehog as he stared at his predecessor.

"I think mom and dad will like what they see. C'mon, let's go show them." said Sonic, leading Scourge downstairs.

The three hedgies raced downstairs to the family room where Jules and Aleena were cuddling on the couch. The two looked up to see Scourge, but then their expressions turned to one of surprise when they saw their boy dressed up the same as before he was taken.

"You certainly have grown. You don't look any different than you did before, except for your size, of course." said Jules.

"Yeah, I noticed." said Scourge, handing him the paper with his missing photo in it.

Aleena just reached over and grabbed Scourge and pulled him into another bear hug.

"Are you okay?" asked Scourge.

"Yes, I just remembered how much I missed you while you were away." said Aleena, tears of joy in her eyes.

"Well, I think it's time I took my shower." said Jules, heading upstairs.

"You didn't take yours, yet?" asked Scourge.

"No, I decided to wait until you were done so I'd have some hot water left over." said Jules, halfway up the stairs.

"After he's done, we'll go get you some new things to wear." said Aleena.

"Cool." said Scourge.

Then he got up from the couch and walked out of the room.

"Where ya off to?" asked Sonia.

"Bathroom." replied Scourge.

He went around the corner and pulled open the door, but instead of a bathroom, all he saw was a long staircase that led downstairs.

The basement.

For a moment, all he felt was shock and a sense of déjà vu, but then he remembered his vow to be the Manic the Hedges had lost.

This was a good time and place to start.

"This is just a room located underneath a house, that's all." he reminded himself as he took his first step down.

That seemed easy enough. He took another step down, then another, and another, and before he knew it, he was at the bottom.

Not only was this basement clean and pristine, but there was also the weight machines Jules had mentioned, as well as a fridge and a bar counter top with stools and coke glasses. Upon opening the fridge, Scourge discovered it contained Gatorade and coke. When he turned around, he saw a big fluffy couch and a TV with a game system hooked up to it.

This definitely wasn't Robotnik's basement.

Scourge felt silly about getting so worked up over a basement, especially when this one seemed more like a club than a prison. When he vowed to be a new person, he meant it. It was time to stop being weak.

_Speaking of which…_

Scourge remembered Jules doing push ups and mentioning that that was how you built up muscle.

"Gotta start somewhere." he said to himself as he positioned himself on the floor.

He was now face down like Jules had been, and like Jules, Scourge put his feet together, pressed the palms of his hands against the matted floor, and pushed with all his might, but immediately lost balance when he felt his scar getting stretched out. He spread his arms out less than the first time so he wouldn't break his stitches and pushed again. Try as he might, however, he could not push himself up all the way, and finally collapsed back to the mat. He didn't understand how it could be that hard to push his body up since he was little more than fur and bones. Then again, so were his arms.

Scourge tried once more. He pushed down on the mat and pushed upward, not quite making it this time, but getting closer before he fell down again, but he was determined to become strong like Jules, so he pushed himself all the way up, then lowered himself down until he was but an inch off the ground.

Now came the hard part.

He concentrated all his strength into his arms and forced himself upward, slowly rising. But as he rose, his strength fell, and his willpower was draining as well.

_Do it for the Hedges_

That was all he needed to gain an extra boost and hoist himself back up to his original position.

_I did it_. He thought.

"Not bad."

Scourge looked up to see Sonic and Sonia looking at him from the stairway.

"How long have you been watching me?" asked Scourge.

"We followed you down here. I heard you open the basement door, so we both got curious and followed you down." said Sonia.

"Looks like you still got a way to go, but at least you started on your own, which is a good sign." said Sonic, giving Scourge a thumbs up.

Indeed, he had. It was a minor step for him, but a big leap in the right direction of his new life as Manic.

"Thanks." said Scourge, high fiving the two siblings.

"Dad's almost done getting ready. After that, we'll be able to get you some new threads at Wal-mart." said Sonia.

Scourge's expression turned to one of alarm.

"Oh crap, I still have to go to the bathroom." he said, racing upstairs.


	7. Family Outing

A low rumbling was heard in the bathroom, followed by the sound of a sink being used. A moment later, Scourge emerged from the bathroom looking relieved.

"Okay, I'm ready." said Jules, coming downstairs in his new clothes, which were little more than a t-shirt and jeans, not too different from what Scourge was wearing.

As both entered the family room from opposite sides, Scourge noticed that Sonic was sitting on the couch with Aleena, but Sonia was missing.

"Where'd Sonia go?" asked Scourge.

"She went upstairs for something." replied Sonic.

Right about then, a door could be heard closing and a second later, Sonia came rushing down the stairs.

"Sorry for the delay, I had to feed Sophia." said Sonia.

"Is everyone ready?" asked Aleena.

"Yep" said everyone in unison.

"Alright, let's go." said Jules, heading for the door to the garage.

Everyone followed him into the garage where the family car was waiting. Despite having seen it before when the Hedges brought him home in it yesterday, Scourge was still impressed by the blue convertible and loved the new car smell that greeted him once he climbed in. This time, Sonia sat in the middle while Scourge sat on the right since he wanted to get a better view of the outside. As the car backed out of the garage, Scourge noticed the big lake behind the house. He remembered the photo of the family in the motor boat out on a lake, but he had no idea that the lake was in their backyard. This was too good.

"So do you guys still have the boat?" asked Scourge.

"Yeah, but it's been a while since we used it." said Sonic.

"Really? How long." asked Scourge

Sonia shook her head while moving her hand in a gesture that said _keep it down_, indicating it wasn't a good idea to talk about it.

She was too late, however, as Aleena spoke up.

"The last time we used it on the lake was about 3 years ago. After that, we just...stopped doing it...because..."

She said nothing after that, but Scourge thought she sounded choked up, as if she were suppressing a painful memory.

Sonia leaned over to whisper in Scourge's ear.

"After you were taken, we stopped doing alot of the things we had done together as a family, both because it brought back too many memories of you, and because we were busy looking for you most of the time."

This didn't totally surprise Scourge since they told him they had spent alot of time looking for him, but it still made him feel bad that they had gone to all that trouble for him, until he remembered he wasn't Manic.

Funny how that slipped his mind. Still, he had to play the part.

"I hope it's not too late to be a family again." he said, hoping they hadn't gotten mad at him.

He knew they weren't as tempermental as Robotnik, but there was no telling what might set them off, given all they had been through because of him.

"No, of course not. You came back to us, which was everything we could have asked for, and now we're starting over." said Aleena, looking back at her son, her face glowing.

Starting over. Scourge liked the sound of that.

As the car pulled out of the neighborhood, Scourge turned his attention to the scenery outside, watching everything pass by. All that, added to the exhilirating feel of riding in a car, made for one heck of a thrill for him. However, as he thought about what a thrill it was to be free from his prison of a basement, his mind inevitably drifted back to the prison itself, and he thought about the new basement he'd explored, and all the cool stuff he'd seen in it, such as the weight sets and games.

"Sooo...what's with the games and stuff in the basement?" Scourge whispered to Sonia.

Sonic was the first to respond.

"It's basically our hang out area for us and our friends." said Sonic.

"Yeah, we play games down there and stuff. It was really messy the last time you saw it, we didn't make it our hang out area until after we fixed the place up a year ago." said Sonia.

"Cool, I guess. What games do you play down there?" asked Scourge.

"Well there's Halo for the Xbox 360 and sports games for the Wii." said Sonic.

Scourge would have reminded Sonic that he had no idea what those were, but kept his mouth shut, knowing that they may have had those around before Manic was taken. Sonia seemed to read his mind.

"The Wii is a bit like the Xbox, but instead of a regular controller, you use a remote that you move around in front of the screen to make the things in the game move." said Sonia.

Scourge was hardly familiar with a regular controller. What Sonia said made no sense at all.

"Uhh...what?" he asked, the o_O look on his face.

"Let me rephrase." said the crimson hedgie, "while you push buttons on a regular controller to make a game character move around on any other game system, the wii is different because with a wii controller, you don't push buttons or joysticks to make the character move, you move the controller itself, so you can aim in the game by aiming the controller itself. Do you get it now?"

"Kinda...maybe not." said Scourge.

"We'll show you when we get home. It's probably easier to show it to you than explain it." said Sonic.

"Yeah, I guess." laughed Scourge.

He then looked out the window and noticed they were on a bridge passing over a large river, flanked on both sides by forests that stretched for miles. Scourge thought he could see houses on the lake's edge, similar to the lake front house he was now living in, but what amazed him the most was how small everything seemed. Water, trees, and a sunny sky as far as the eye could see. Deep down, he always knew the world was a big place, but to witness the magnitude of such an expansion was completely new to him. The sight of something so infinite made him realize how free he was from the tight confinement of Robotnik's house. Too many years in his life had been wasted in that insignificant speck of a house, and he'd spent most of his time in a basement that wasn't even half as big. What he wanted now the most was to see the world as it was, to make up for all the years wasted in that makeshift grave Robotnik had kept him in.

Some time later, they entered a small town with all kinds of places he'd never seen or heard of, but they continued on until they came to a big blue building with the words 'Wal-Mart' written on it. They stopped in the parking lot and climbed out of the car and went inside.

The green hedgehog was surprised to see the doors open on their own, but quickly brushed it aside as he had more important things to be concerned with, like getting some clothes of his own that actually fit, so he entered the store but was met with a draft of cool air coming down from a large vent above him, a welcome relief from the summer heat outside.

Scourge hadn't even been in the store yet and already he was starting to like this place. So far, so good.

"Enjoying the breeze?" chuckled Jules.

Scourge turned around to see Jules, Aleena, and Sonia staring at him with amusement.

"Don't worry, everyone enjoys the vent air. That's what it was designed for." said Sonia.

Scourge noticed a certain blue blur wasn't among them.

"Where'd Sonic go?" he asked.

"While you were distracted, he snuck past you." said Aleena, pointing past Scourge.

He turned around to see Sonic halfway across the store waving at them, grinning ear to ear.

"He IS fast." said Scourge, the 00 look on his face.

"And cocky." added Jules, motioning Sonic to come back.

The blue spike ball jogged back at a mild pace until he was with the group once more.

They entered the store, Scourge noticed two weird looking electronic things on either side of the door, but as before, he brushed them from his mind as he had more important things to worry about. On the way to the clothing section, Scourge was in awe of the many shelves stacked with food and conveniences. During his time at Robotnik's house, he had partially been under the impression that food was scarce, most likely, he was trying to justify the reason for him not getting much, but if that myth hadn't been busted the night he'd had pizza at his new home, it died a horrible death once he saw what stocked the shelves.

"Manic, is something wrong?" asked Aleena, looking back at him.

"Uh no, it's just...that's alot of food." he said, still staring at the shelves full of goodies.

He turned to see Jules whispering something into Aleena's ear.

"That sounds like a good idea." she nodded.

"What are you talking about?" asked Scourge.

"You'll find out later." said Aleena, winking at him.

"So what now?" asked Scourge.

"You pick out some things to wear and try them on in the dressing room over there." said Jules, pointing to what looked like a portable closet with a nearby that was being run by a female racoon.

Alarm bells went off inside the green hedgehog's head. Would the lady at the register follow him inside and watch him undress? How else was she supposed to make sure he didn't steal anything?

"She...she's not gonna watch me undress is she?" whispered Scourge to Jules.

"No, she just waits outside the booths to make sure you don't take anything." said Jules.

"But couldn't someone just sneak things out of the store?" asked the green hedgie.

"They could try, but everything in this store has some sensor on it that will make the alarm go off if it gets past the detectors they have at the doors." said Sonic.

_So that's what those weird looking electronic things were_. thought Scourge.

"Well ok, but what should I get?" he asked.

"Oh, just some shirts, pants, and shorts that you think look good on you." said Aleena.

"Try 2 or 3 of each." suggested Jules.

"Err...alright." said Scourge, feeling a little overwhelmed with having to make that many choices.

He made his way over to a shelf with rows of shirts on display and checked the label on the first one. On it was a skull with two spoons crossed in the shape of an X, with the description _Cereal Killer_ written below it. Scourge busted out laughing. That was one he never would have expected. Another one simply said _Drink Coffee, do Stupid things Faster with more Energy_ which also made Scourge laugh. The next one read _Meat is Murder...Tasty, Flame-Broiled, Delicious Murder. _Another one said_ I'm with Stupid _and had several arrows pointing in many different directions. By then, Scourge was laughing so hard he couldn't stand and had to lean against the shelf to keep from falling.

Maybe this wouldn't be so bad after all.

As Scourge recovered, he looked over at the rest of the group and saw Sonic and Sonia talking with Jules about something. It looked like he was asking them something, but then they both pulled PDA like devices out of their pockets and showed them to him and he then waved them off and the two hedgies ran off toward some other part of the store. Scourge decided to ask Jules what that was all about, if only to satisfy his curiosity about what the two siblings had been carrying.

"What were those things they showed you?" asked Scourge.

"Those were their cell phones. We're gonna get you one so that you can call us in case you get lost." replied the older hedgehog.

Scourge would have asked what a _cell _phone was, but the _phone_ part told him everything he needed to know.

"So did ya find anything to wear?" asked Jules.

"Yeah, I think I found a few shirts that looked cool." replied the green one, turning back toward the shirt rack. He showed several pairs to his dad while he showed Scourge around the place so he could see what else was available. By the time, they had finished, Scourge had picked out 4 different shirts, 2 pairs of jeans, 1 pair of khaki pants, and 2 pairs of shorts, all of which matched the size of the borrowed clothes he was wearing. Two of the shirts had the funny text on them (Cereal Killer and the one about meat being murder) while the other two were green and blue. One pair of jeans was blue and the other was black. One set of shorts was a pair of black swimming trunks while the other was a simple pair of blue gym shorts that matched his blue T-shirt.

They then brought the clothes to the Dressing Room where the Raccoon lady was waiting.

"Looks like someone's in need of something to wear." laughed the raccoon, noting the amount of stuff they were carrying.

She seemed friendly enough, maybe she wasn't really looking for an excuse to sic the security guards on Scourge like he feared.

"You're not gonna watch me change are you?" asked Scourge.

"What? No." said the raccoon, laughing.

"Just try on the stuff inside the changing room to see if it fits. That's all there is to it." said Jules.

"Oh, ok." said the smaller hedgehog, taking the merchandise inside the closet of a room and locking the door behind him.

Turning to the mirror next to him, it dawned on Scourge that he was actually getting clothes of his own to wear, which he himself had picked out. How cool was that? And that was just the beginning. Soon he'd be getting a phone that he could carry around with him that he could use to talk to Aleena, Jules, or even Sonic and Sonia anytime he was lost or was feeling lonely, which was a big deal for him. And after that, he had a big cozy house to go back to with all the food he could eat.

Funny how all this was just now occuring to him. Scourge was still having a hard time figuring out if this was really happening or if he had really died and gone to heaven. In fact, now that he thought about it, it did seem a little too convenient for him to suddenly wake up in a warm bed surrounded by a family that loved and wanted him and to then be treated to all these wonderful things he had been given.

Was all this really happening or was it all perception? Was he still laying in Robotnik's yard dreaming this all up? Was he already dead?

Then again, this could just as easily be as real as it seemed.

Scourge forced the thought from his mind, not wanting to ruin a good day like this as he tried to decide which set of clothes he tried on first since this was the first time he'd be wearing his own clothes which he himself picked out. It was effectively his first real decision he'd made in his new life.

He was about to try on the green shirt, but then decided to go with the Cereal Killer shirt since it wasn't that big a deal, and because he liked the shirt since it made him laugh, which was something he literally hadn't done before.

He took off the shirt Sonic had let him borrow and saw the scar on his chest where Snively had stabbed him. The peach colored fur around it had been buzz cut, revealing a long streak of stitches over exposed skin, the only place on his entire body besides his face and hands where his skin was visible, but it was also evidence that he was indeed alive. If he had died or was dreaming, he wouldn't have that wound on him. Certainly not one that had been attended to.

He looked at the shirt he had decided on and was suddenly a bit creeped out by the skull and cross spoons on it and decided to go with the green shirt. Perhaps it would blend in with his green fur and hide the scar on his chest. Heck, it might make everyone forget about it completely.

Next was the blue jeans. He would have worn the blue shorts, but he wasn't too comfortable with the idea of someone looking at his bare legs, having had enough unwanted attention from a certain round man, so he went with the blue pants instead.

He put his socks and shoes back on and opened the door to the dressing room.

"How do I look?" he asked.

"Does it fit okay?" asked Jules.

"Feels fine." replied Scourge.

"Cool, now go try on the rest of the stuff." said Jules.

"All of it is my size. Why do I need to try it on?" asked Scourge.

"Just to make sure it doesn't feel scratchy or anything. Wouldn't want to get something you aren't gonna wear, would you?"

That made sense. Scourge went back inside and tried everything on to make sure it all felt right, which it did, but as he tried on the blue shirt, he decided to stick with that one for a while since it contrasted his green fur nicely, which was something he preffered over a shirt that blended in with him.

He came back out in his blue jeans and blue T-shirt and Jules just laughed when he saw him.

"Just like old times." chuckled the older Hedgehog.

"What do you mean?" asked Scourge, his curiosity peaked.

Jules' expression turned sentimental.

"You remember how you and Sonic would dress up in similar clothing?"

"Scourge suddenly wished he hadn't asked what Jules had meant, but it was too late.

"It's been a while. I have trouble remembering things." he lied.

Jules continued.

"You and your twin brother Sonic looked very similar, and you still do, but back when you two were still tots, you both seemed to think alike on so many things that your mother swore you were both telepathic. Then one day, she got you each a shirt and a pair of shorts that matched your fur colors, but you two, having a twisted sense of humor, decided to switch so that Sonic wore the green clothes while you wore his blue ones. Your mother drove us all crazy trying to take different pictures of you both, and your Uncle Chuck nicknamed you two 'Yin' and 'Yang' because while you both had different colors, you still completed each other, much like the yin yang itself."

"What's a yin yang? o0" asked Scourge.

"That." said Jules, pointing to a T-shirt on a rack sporting a circular design with two ghost like entities, one black with a white eye, the other white with a black eye, both swirling around each other in a circle. Scourge needed no further explanation since the design was pretty self explanatory.

Then another thought came to Scourge.

"What pants is Sonic wearing?" he asked.

"I think he's wearing shorts." replied Jules.

"Okay, but what color shorts is he wearing?" asked Scourge.

Jules thought for a mmoment before responding.

"Green, I think. Why?"

Scourge held up the green shirt he'd already tried on.

A smile found it's way onto Jules' face. He pulled out his cell phone and clicked on Sonic's number before placing the phone to his ear.

"Hey Sonic, come over to the dressing rooms for a minute." said Jules, and then hung up.

A moment later, Sonic showed up.

"What is it?" he asked.

Scourge tossed him the green T-shirt.

"Try it on. Your mother will want to see you in it." said Jules, now grinning.

"Oh come on, couldn't you just take a picture of us in these garbs and show that to mom?" whined Sonic, knowing how camera happy his mother tended to be.

"Just this once. Now go inside the booth and put on the shirt so we can get it over with." ordered Jules, pointing to the changing closet.

Sonic just shrugged and disappeared inside the same booth Scourge had used and came out a moment later in the Green shirt that Scourge had tossed him, but he also had green shorts to match, whereas Scourge had blue shirt and pants to contrast.

"Aleena's gotta see this." said Jules, dialing her number.

"This is embarrasing." said Sonic plainly.

"What's wrong with it?" asked Scourge.

"We haven't exactly dressed up in each other's colors since we were like 5. I feel like a baby doing this." said the blue in green.

"Sorry about your suffering. Can't imagine what you're going through." replied the green in blue, sarcastically.

Sonic was about to use a comeback of his own, but then decided against it since Manic did have a point. There were things far worse than wearing certain colors.

A sudden burst of giggling drew their attention behind them where Aleena was looking at them. She snapped several pictures of them with the camera on her cell phone, and then had them stand together, stand apart, stand back to back, and all sorts of ridicluous things that only a mom with a camera could have thought up, and finally finished a good five minutes later.

"I knew escaping Robotnik was too good to be true." whispered Scourge under his breath.

"I hope you're joking." whispered back Sonic.

"I am." said Scourge. "I just didn't remember mom being this bad."

"Well now you know why I didn't want to wear this in the first place." said Sonic in disgust.

"Poor Yin Yangs." mocked Sonia from her hiding spot near one of the racks.

"How long have you been there?" asked Sonic, knowing he wasn't gonna like the answer.

"Since you got here. I followed you from the gaming section." sneered the eggplant colored Hedgie.

An evil smirk came over Scourge's face.

"Hey mom, you forgot to take a picture of Sonia with us." he said, grabbing Sonia.

"What? Let go of me!" yelped Sonia, easily swatting Scourge's feeble grasp off herself, but it was too late, Sonic had already grabbed her and Aleena was going for her camera phone again, her face as lit up as it had been the first time.

"Great idea, Manic. Sonia, stand between your two brothers." said Aleena.

"Maniac is definitely back." growled Sonia under her breath.

(10 minutes later)

After taking the exact same snapshots she had taken before, with Sonia now in them, and then taking a few more with Jules and herself in them, she had finally had enough...long after everyone else did.

If a dog was a man's best friend, the camera was a woman's.

"He's gonna pay for that." growled Sonia.

"You knock him out, I'll stuff him in the trunk." whispered Jules, obviously joking, of course.

"I hope you're happy, _Maniac._" said Sonic.

"But wasn't it worth it to get Sonia back?" grinned Scourge.

The blue blur pondered that for a second.

"I suppose..."

Next came the shoes. While everyone else went back to their own thing, Aleena led Scourge to the shoe department in the back of the store where he would pick out his own pair of shoes. His first pair of shoes.

Sure the ones he had on now were nice, especially when compared to the rags he wore on his feet back in Robotnik's basement, just to keep his toes from freezing at night, but these were Sonic's old shoes he was wearing and they were worn out from alot of running, so it was essential to get some footwear that wouldn't break or tear anytime soon.

As he passed through the aisles of shoes and boots, he came upon a pair that stood out from the rest. These shoes were mostly green like his fur, with patches of black here and there. Scourge didn't really know how to describe them except for one word: wicked. These shoes were perfect. They looked cool and their color matched his style. He took one of his shoes off and pulled one out of the box to try it on, but was disappointed to discover he couldn't get it on all the way.

"Dang, and these were some nice shoes, too." lamented Scourge.

"What's wrong?" asked Aleena.

"They're too small for me." said Scourge, moving on to a different pair.

"Those are size 8. How big are the shoes you're wearing?" asked Aleena.

Scourge took off one of his borrowed shoes and checked the tag inside.

"Size 10." he replied.

Aleena grabbed a box underneath the black and green shoes on display with the number 10 on it and opened it to reveal another pair of black and green shoes.

"These should fit." she said, handing the pair to her son.

It was a rather pleasant surprise to know that they actually did have what he was looking for. Scourge took off his other shoe and placed both of the new ones on his feet and tied the laces before standing up in them and walking around in them.

"Do they feel comfortable?" asked his mom.

"Very." he replied.

Not only did they look good, but they felt good, too.

"Are they too big?" asked Aleena.

Scourge pressed down on the toe of the shoes and felt his own toes in them.

"No, they fit perfectly."

Aleena still didn't seem satisfied.

"Are you sure those are the ones you want?" she asked.

"Definitely. They're way cooler than all the other shoes." said Scourge, proudly.

"Alright then, let's get this stuff checked out." said Aleena, pulling her cell phone out.

She called everyone and told Sonic to come to the shoe department and for Jules and Sonia to wait for them by the exit. A moment later, Sonic arrived in the green shirt Scourge had picked out and the three of them brought the merchandise to the register and then went toward the exit once everything was paid for, and sure enough, Jules and Sonia were waiting for them. They then headed toward the car and stuck everything in the trunk and got back in the car to leave. As they pulled out of the parking lot, Scourge noticed they weren't going back home.

"Where are we headed now?" asked Sonia before Scourge could do the same.

Jules was the one to respond.

"Well we have to go get Manic a cell phone, but since it's almost lunch time, your mom and I decided to go grab a bite at the Rainforest Cafe. How does that sound?"

"Awesome!" said Sonic and Sonia in unison.

"What's that?" asked Scourge, unfamiliar with the word 'cafe.'

"It was like your favorite place to eat when you were small." said Sonia.

"_Our _favorite place." corrected Sonic.

"Uh, like I said, it's been a while." said Scourge, attempting to save face.

"Well, nothing to welcome back a lost soul like the Rainforest Cafe." said Sonic, giving Scourge his cocky grin.

"Yeah. Cool, I guess." said Scourge.

They drove through town for a few minutes before pulling into the parking lot of a rather exotic looking building that was decorated to look like some sort of indoor zoo from the outside, complete with jungle foliage, a fountain, and even a waterfall built into the side of the restaurant to give it that rainforest appearance. It all looked pretty neat, but Scourge was still unsure of what to think, but not wanting to arouse suspicion, he kept questions about the possibility of there being real animals in there to himself and followed the rest of the Hedge family inside without question.

As they entered, Scourge looked around at the jungle like interior and thought back to the forest that had surrounded Robotnik's house when he had first escaped from it, but this was nothing like Robotnik's property because it all seemed so alive, whereas Robotnik's place was as dead as it looked, so Scourge was relieved to feel no resemblance in this place to what had been his lifelong prison. He was also relieved to see that the jungle creatures set up throughout the place were fake. At least he wouldn't have to worry about any monkies taking his food.

His attention was drawn to a female rabbit wearing a green apron who approached them.

"Howdy, mah name is Bunnie and ah'll be your waitress. How many of ya are there?" she asked in a soft southern voice.

"Five." said Jules.

"Alright then, follow me." she said.

She led the pack over to a table conveniently placed near a lit tank full of tropical fish.

"Ah'll give y'all a few minutes to check the menus." said Bunnie, once everyone was seated.

Scourge looked into the oversized booklet filled to the brim with limitless food choices and the ravenous hunger pains he'd felt for so long were coming back to him.

"Is that you?" asked Sonia.

"Whassat?" asked Scourge.

"Your stomach's growling really loudly." she said.

"Oh, don't worry, I'm use to it." replied Scourge.

Sonia's eyes turned to saucers at the cruelty hinted at in Scourge's words. It was no secret he'd been starved, but for him to be use to it like it was nothing spoke volumes not only about how often he was starved, but just how much he'd been abused, to the point where he didn't seem to care anymore. He had a long way to go before he fully recovered, and had alot of scars inside that had yet to be discovered, but for now, they'd have to start small, and she knew the perfect thing to help. When Bunnie finally came back and asked them what they wanted, they all ordered whatever looked good, while Sonia, knowing how long the orders would take, asked the rabbit to bring back an appetizer of BBQ wings. The waitress simply nodded her head and walked away with their menus.

With that taken care of, Sonia turned her attention toward her two brothers, who were now doing what they did best: horseplaying.

"I'm gonna cause chaos in the fruit section." said Sonic, who immediately started fingering the jelly packets so that they started tumbling over each other.

"Wah-ahhhhh" said Sonic, to add in sound effects.

Scourge just stared at him.

"Fruit section?"

"Yeah, like where they sell fruit at the store." replied Sonic.

"Oh, okay." chuckled Scourge.

Sonic then moved on to the crayons and paper on the table and drew a stick man smashed against his napkin and then set the napkin down with the stick man underneath it.

"That's why he's squashed." said Sonic.

"Genius." laughed Scourge.

"Oh by the way, have you ever heard of stupid warning labels on things from the store?" asked Sonic.

"No, what do they say?" asked Scourge, curious about this one.

"Well you know how animal crackers are just crackers made to look like non-humanoid animals, right?" asked Sonic.

"Yeah, I think so." replied Scourge.

"Well one box actually said _No animals were harmed in the making of this product._" said Sonic.

"Are people really that stupid o0?" asked Scourge.

"No, the people who make those labels are." laughed Sonia.

"Another one was a curling iron that said _Caution may burn eyes._" said Sonic.

"Is that the thing used to press clothes on the ironing board?" asked Scourge.

"The same." said Sonia.

Both Scourge and Aleena laughed at that one.

"That's not as bad as the hair dryer that read _Do not use while sleeping."_ said Aleena.

"Or the frisbee that read _May contain small parts._" laughed Jules.

"How bout the laser pointer that said _do not look into laser with remaining eye." _snickered Sonic.

"Hey, you know those mirrors that tell you how things in mirror are closer than they appear?" asked Jules.

"Yeah." said everyone else.

"Well I actually saw one that said _Remember, objects in mirror are behind you._" he said.

By now, everyone at the table was laughing. Scourge noticed that Aleena and Jules both looked younger when they were joking around with their kids. In fact, they almost looked like regular teens themselves, like they had once been. A major contrast to Robotnik who was always angry and threatening. Manic's parents were very relaxed and understanding. They also genuinely cared about him and wanted him to be happy, as opposed to Robotnik who had used him as his plaything and couldn't have cared less about him otherwise. It was wonderful to see things were different with other families as it made him realize that the world wasn't totally messed up and that there were some good people in it. He only hoped that taking the place of their dead son didn't make him a bad person. At least he was sparing them the grief that they shouldn't have had to suffer while getting a new life of his own. It worked both ways, so it couldn't be all that bad could it?

Scourge's thoughts were interrupted by Bunnie, who had returned with the drinks they had ordered as well as a plate full of orange pieces of meat with celery and ranch dip.

"Alright, we got the BBQ wings," said Bunnie, setting the plate in the middle of the table, "and who ordered lemonade?"

Scourge raised his hand, Bunnie set the glass down in front of him.

"2 glasses of coke." said Bunnie.

"Sonic and Sonia both raised their hands."

"Diet coke?"

Jules raised his hand.

"And the Iced Tea." said Bunnie, setting the glass of orange liquid in front of Aleena.

"Your orders are almost done. Just don't spoil your appetite with the appetizer." said Bunnie, winking.

"That's what cookies are for." said Scourge.

Everyone else busted out laughing. Scourge felt his chest swell with pride. Nothing like telling a joke that everyone likes, he used that one because he remembered hearing about cookies spoiling one's appetite, though it had been a while since that happened, so he couldn't remember where.

"I thought Sonic was the king of jokes." said Sonia.

Scourge went into a trance upon looking at the wings on the plate and grabbed several and picked them clean before anyone could count to ten. He noticed everyone else at the table staring at him.

"Sorry, I was a bit hungry." he said.

"Nah, that's ok, I ordered the wings for you since you _sounded_ pretty hungry." said Sonia.

"Like you wouldn't believe." said Scourge.

"Just don't eat too fast or you'll get a stomach ache." said Sonia.

"And don't forget to say grace." said Sonic.

He did have a point.

Scourge closed his eyes, clamped his now saucy hands together, and gave thanks for the food he had been given. When he opened his eyes, everyone else opened their's. He'd given thanks for the entire family meal to come without even realizing it. As he ate the rest of the wings, a thought crossed his mind: while he wasn't too familiar with this concept of God and thanking him for everything, he liked the idea of a supreme being watching over him and maintaining order. While he couldn't understand why God would let someone like Manic die at the hands of someone like Robotnik, neither did he understand why he'd wound up with a family as nice as the Hedges. While it could have been a coincidence, it could have just as easily been divine intervention, which, oddly enough, seemed more likely, given the unlikeliness of being rescued in the first place. Another thing which furthered that theory was how nice and civilized the Hedge family was, in light of the fact that they followed God, as opposed to Robotnik, who followed nothing but his own whim. Even if a supreme being did not exist, the idea of one still made people follow rules and be nice to each other as the Hedges did, so maybe the idea of there being a God wasn't so bad after all.

Scourge was snapped out of his thoughts when something hit him in the cheek. He looked down at the table where the object had landed. It was a straw wrapper. Scourge looked up to see Sonic looking innocent.

Nice try.

Scourge ripped off one end of the straw wrapper and put that same end to his mouth and got ready to blow. Sonic raised his napkin up like a bull fighter holding up a red cloth, but without warning, Scourge turned and fired at Sonia, who was taken completely by surprise.

"Ah what?!?!?" yelped the crimson Hedgie.

"Works everytime." snickered Sonic, only to be hit by a straw wrapper blown at him by Aleena.

"I wonder whose next." said Aleena sarcastically, smirking evilly at Jules.

Jules and Sonia simultaneously aimed their straws and blew the wrappers at Aleena. One flew up her nose.

Scourge started laughing so hard that his head hit the table and didn't stop laughing for almost a full minute. By the time he recovered, everyone at the table, and a few other people nearby, were staring at him with curiosity.

"Sorry, I haven't had a good laugh like that in a long time." he said.

Right about then, Bunnie came back with a tray full of plates. Sonia got the rack of ribs, Jules and Aleena got a big steak to share, and Sonic and Scourge both got burgers. Scourge thought he was full from the wings until he saw that big juicy burger and those crispy looking fries placed in front of him. The wings and celery wouldn't even make a decent snack in comparison. As he placed the big sandwich to his lips, the smell of meat, sauce, and mixed condiments made him forget about the wings completely. The first bite was everything he imagined it would be, albeit a little greasy, but still good. After he swallowed it, he picked up two fries and tried those. Crispy, potatoey, and a bit salty, and it fit perfectly with the burger.

During his time in Robotnik's house, the only source of nourishment he could look forward to was old bread. To suddenly switch over to things like cheesy pizza and saucy burgers was more than he could have ever asked for, and that was just a side benefit to all the other things he'd gotten, added to the fact that this day still wasn't over. He was going to get a phone of his own so he could communicate with the rest of the Hedge Family, further emphasizing that he was now one of them.

The more he counted his ever increasing blessings, the more he wondered where they came from.

_Maybe there is someone up there looking out for me._ he thought.


	8. Dancing and Water Skiing

**While typing out this chapter, my computer crashed and I had to type out most of it all over again! But I did it anyway, because you guys are worth it. Now quit reading this stuff and start reading the actual chapter!**

Quite a week it had been. Only a week ago he had been a lost soul trapped in a basement with the devil as his only company. Now he had a home, a family that loved him, and just about everything else he could ever want...including the cell phone they had picked up at AT&T after they left the Rainforest Cafe. After that, they went to the movies and then headed to some of the places Manic use to hang out at with the family. By the time they got back, it was almost 4 PM. He had just finished turning on his new phone and putting everyone's phone numbers in it when they pulled into the driveway.

"Well I'm all dried out, I need to take a dip." said Sonic, getting out of the car and running toward the lake behind the house.

"Right behind ya." said Sonia racing after him after she helped Scourge out of the car.

"What was he talking about?" asked Scourge.

"They're going swimming in the lake." replied Jules, grabbing some of the clothes from the car. Aleena grabbed the rest of the clothes before Scourge could get any of them.

"There anything I can get?" asked Scourge.

"You could get the take-out boxes." said Jules.

Scourge remembered the left-over food from the Cafe, which had been put into styrofoam boxes. He quickly got them out of the back of the car and followed the two older hedgehogs inside and set the boxes in the fridge.

"Bet ya can't wait to try on your new swim suit." said Jules, folding some of the clothing.

O_o "Uhhh..." said Scourge, not liking the sound of an older man suggesting he wear something more revealing.

"I thought you might like the idea of taking the boat out again." continued Jules.

"You serious?" asked Aleena.

"Why not? It's been a really long time since we last used the boat, and the reason for not using it was because it didn't feel the same without Manic. What better way to celebrate him coming back than to go boating again?" replied Jules.

"Sounds like an awesome idea." said Aleena, looking as giddy as a little girl.

"How bout you, Manic?" asked Jules.

"Will I...Do I have to take off my clothes to swim?" he asked, looking at Sonic and Sonia, who were both swimming in their swimsuits outside.

"You don't have to, though you might want to wear something you can get wet in." said Jules.

"Okay, said Scourge, taking his clothes upstairs to his room. He set everything on his bed and then took off everything except his blue t-shirt and put on his new swimming trunks to go with it. He was ok with getting wet in that shirt as long as it kept his scars covered up.

Then he ran back downstairs to join the family outside. However, Jules and Aleena were nowhere to be found when he got downstairs. The house felt eerily empty without them around. Scourge suddenly felt very alone and got the feeling that he was being watched. He couldn't tell where the feeling was coming from, but he just knew someone was looking at him. His gaze shifted to Sonic and Sonia splashing around in the water outside and wanted to join them, but something told him that reaching for that sliding glass door in front of him meant death.

_If you do not do as you are told, I will have to kill you…_

Those words continued to ring through his head. He couldn't take the risk, he had to show that he was a good kid and stay inside…but…didn't Mr. and Mrs. Hedge tell him he was safe? Where were they now?

Scourge heard something move behind him and was certain that it was Robotnik. He kept his gaze on the two siblings frolicking in the lake outside, too afraid to turn around.

Then he heard what sounded like footsteps, quiet, but close by…and they were getting closer. Scourge clamped his eyes shut, trying desperately to escape what he knew was coming. The footsteps now only a few feet behind him, he could almost feel the belt coming down on him. The young hedgehog was so terrified that he was hyperventilating. He also could not move, or think rationally…until he heard a familiar voice.

"Manic?"

Scourge turned to see Jules in a shirt and swimming shorts, staring at him in confusion. In all the confusion and fear, it had never occurred to him that the two parents were simply changing into their swimming clothes like he had been. Overwhelmed with relief, Scourge raced to the older hedgehog and buried his face in his chest. All fears of Robotnik melted away as he felt Jules' arms closing around him like a protective barrier.

"I thought you were gone." Choked Scourge, fighting back a sob.

"No, no, we would never leave you. We were upstairs the entire time." Said Jules, running his hands up and down Scourge's back.

Right about then, Aleena came downstairs in her one-piece swimsuit and saw Scourge and Jules.

"What happened?" she asked.

"He didn't know where we were." Said Jules, still holding Scourge.

"I thought you left." Sobbed Scourge, unable to hold back the tears. "I felt alone, but I couldn't go outside by myself because that...might be bad."

Then he felt Aleena pressing up against him from behind as she, too, embraced her child. Scourge felt himself deflating in their arms as a wave of calm washed over him. Not since waking up this morning in Aleena's arms had he felt so safe. It seemed like a dream coming true, and he felt even safer with both parents holding him, and didn't want the moment to end. All he wanted now was to stay safe forever.

"Whatever that man told you was a lie." said Aleena, angrily. "He lied to you so he could control you, to make you think that trying to escape was somehow wrong, but that was how you got back to us. It was because you ignored what that man told you that you're here with us. Now you'll have to do it again, Manic. You're gonna have to decide whether you're going to live by our rules, or his."

She was right, he had to stop freaking out if he was going to pull this off.

"Okay...I'll do it your way." replied Scourge.

"That's a start. We're behind you the whole way." said Jules.

"Now let's go have some fun." said Aleena.

With that, they all headed for the garage. On the way there, Scourge thought about the conversation they'd had and only then did it begin to sink in that Robotnik couldn't hurt him anymore, because for one thing, he didn't even know where he was, and even if he did, Sonic had said Jules had a 45. He didn't know what a 45 was, but Sonic made it seem like that was all they needed to stay safe from Robotnik.

"Hey...dad? What's a 45?" he asked as they entered the garage.

"What do you mean?" asked Jules, looking back at him.

"Last night, Sonic said you had a 45 in case that man came back."

"Oh that! He was referring to my pistol I keep with me." replied the older hedgehog as he put gasoline into the motorboat.

0_0 "You mean a gun?" asked Scourge, wide eyed.

During his time in captivity, when Robotnik had allowed him to eat pizza and watch TV with him that one time, Scourge had seen images of people shooting each other with strange looking devices and he'd heard someone call them guns. In another scene someone asked for a pistol and someone tossed him one of the guns from the shooting scene. While it was nice to see something other than the walls of Robotnik's house for a change, he was also horrified by the images of people's heads exploding while others were blown apart by the weapons. He wondered how anyone could possibly be entertained by seeing people suffer such a horrible fate, and now he learned that Jules carried one of those same weapons with him. What would he do with it. Worse, who would he use it on, and for what reason? The people in the movie Robotnik liked to watch would walk into stores and blow strangers apart for no reason other than to take what they had. Was Jules planning on killing someone so he could take what they had?

Was that how he got this big house and everything in it?

"Manic, ever since you were taken, I've kept a gun with me in case someone ever tried to harm Sonic or Sonia. If the man who took you, or the one who stabbed you ever tries to come back, I'll make sure he doesn't get away a second time." replied Jules.

That put things into a whole new perspective. Scourge had been so worried about how dangerous guns were that he never realized how safe he was behind one. If Robotnik or Snively tried to break in, they wouldn't get very far against a gun. Maybe having one around wasn't such a bad thing, after all, as long as the person carrying it was on his side.

"Oh, okay." said Scourge, feeling safer.

Aleena backed the car out of the garage and parked it so that the back end was aimed toward said garage so all Jules and Scourge had to do was hook the boat up to the car. After that, Jules and Aleena switched places and Jules used the car to pull the motorboat out of the garage and then backed it up toward the lake and then stopped at the water's edge.

"Sweet!" said Sonia, wading toward the boat, Sonic close behind her.

Scourge immediately noticed Sonic's well built physique and could tell he'd been working out.

_Now THAT's what I want to look like._ he thought, envying Sonic's muscular form.

Scourge then took his first steps into the water. It felt pleasant and soothing to his feet, so he took a few more steps until the water was up to his waist. He liked how warm the water felt, not as warm as the shower, but still relaxing, so he continued on until it was up to his shoulders. By then, it didn't even feel like he was standing, more like floating. He raised his feet off the ground, and sure enough, he floated for a second or two before sinking beneath the water. He shut his eyes and held his breath as the water swallowed him up. It felt a little chilly going over his head, at first, but he got use to it quickly and stayed suspended in the warm blackness. After a while, the need for air became too much, so he pressed his feet against the ground and stood up straight so that he broke through the surface, inhaling life giving air.

It was almost like being born a second time.

"Having fun?" asked Sonic.

Scourge looked back to see everyone waiting for him. He waded back to the boat and the five of them worked together to unhook it until it slid off the wheels and into the water.

"Better make sure it still works." said Jules, climbing into the boat. "I need you all to stand back."

Everyone got up on shore while Jules turned the key and the boat hummed a few times before it finally roared to life.

Sonic and Sonia let out a whoop and promptly jumped back in the lake to swim to the boat.

"Remember how to swim?" asked Aleena.

"Uh...remind me again?"

"Okay, you lay forward in the water, diagnolly, then you paddle your feet while digging your hands into the water, as if you were scooping sand toward you, like this." she said, demonstrating.

It took a few tries, but eventually, Scourge got the hang of it. After that, they all climbed into the boat.

"Put this on." said Sonic, handing Scourge an orange puffy vest.

Scourge noticed everyone else was putting one on.

_Must be so people can see them if it gets too dark._ thought Scourge, noticing the vest's bright color.

"Here we go." said Jules.

Everyone hung on as the boat shot forward.

Scourge shivered in his seat as the water in his fur turned frigid from the air rushing at him. He curled into a ball, trying to stay warm, but then he felt someone wrapping a towel around him. He looked to his left to see Aleena as she finished putting the towel around him and then put her arms around him as well, keeping him close to her. Scourge leaned his head on her shoulder to shield his head from the cold air, but it soon proved redundant as the boat came to a stop.

_So much for that._ thought Scourge, pulling the towel off himself.

"I'll go first." said Sonia, pulling out a rope with a handle attached and jumping into the water.

"You'll go first." agreed Sonic.

"Aren't ya gonna use the water skis?" asked Jules.

"Nah, I'll go barefoot." said Sonia.

_I wonder what she's planning on doing with that rope. It would be crazy if she got dragged by the boat._ thought Scourge, watching Sonia swim until the chord was straightened out.

"Okay! Let er rip!" shouted the crimson hedgehog.

_Irony._

The boat took off with Sonia close behind. Scourge laughed as he watched Sonia skidding across the water on her rear end, but his eyes grew to saucers as she actually stood up on her feet and continued skidding while standing.

"WOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!" shouted the hedgehog standing on water.

Scourge noticed movement out of the corner of his eye and turned to see Sonic pulling a pile of rubber bands out from underneath his seat. It was obvious he was planning on using them for something, judging by the sinister grin on his face.

"Whatcha planning on doing with those?" shouted Scourge over the noise of the boat and the wind.

"Remember straw wars at Rainforest?" shouted Sonic, aiming the rubber band in Sonia's direction.

That pretty much said it all.

Scourge looked back at Aleena who was looking over Jules' shoulder, probably reminiscing earlier boat rides, and then looked back at Sonic as he released the rubber band.

Sonia didn't seem to notice as she was having too much fun water skiing without the skis.

Sonic primed another rubber missile and let it fly. Like the last one, it missed Sonia, so Sonic got another one ready and made sure to take the wind into account and released it. Scourge watched it zoom in on it's prey before it bounced off the top of Sonia's head. The crimson hedgie was so surprised that she lost her grip on the rope and fell flat on her face.

"Bull's eye." was all Sonic said as his sister quickly shrank out of sight.

Scourge looked back at Sonia who by now had surfaced and was shouting something at them, but it was hard to hear her over the sound of the boat.

"Shouldn't we tell dad?" asked Scourge.

"Wait for it...okay." said Sonic.

"Hey dad, Sonia tripped!" shouted Scourge.

Both parents turned to look back at Sonia who was now a dot in the water. The boat did a 180 and gradually slowed until it stopped almost right next to Sonia, who did not look very happy at all.

"HE HIT ME IN THE HEAD WITH A RUBBER BAND!" she shouted, pointing at Sonic, accusingly.

Jules and Aleena's gaze shifted to Sonic who looked like he was about to say something, but kept his mouth shut.

"So did you really do it?" asked Jules, glaring at the blue hedgehog.

Scourge felt his blood go cold. This looked all too familiar. Sonic had done something bad, so the only logical thing for Jules to do was to make him good again by beating him with the belt...isn't that what all loving parents do?

"Maybe..." said Sonic, looking innocent.

_What in the world is he doing?_ thought Scourge. _He's about to get whipped and he's not even taking it seriously?_

Then another thought occured to him: would Jules shoot him? He had a gun, after all.

"Looks like you won't be skiing then." said Jules.

"O...kay." said Sonic, awkwardly, getting comfortable in his seat.

Scourge didn't know whether to feel relieved or shocked. All Jules did was keep Sonic from skidding across water. How was that supposed to teach him anything? Did he not love Sonic enough to whip him?

The green hedgehog had been so distracted that he hadn't heard Aleena asking him if he wanted to go water skiing, so she had to repeat herself.

"I said would you like to go, Manic?" asked Aleena.

Scourge snapped out of it and turned to the purple colored woman.

"I'll let Sonia finish her turn." replied Scourge, timidly.

"Well, okay then." said Sonia, getting back in the water and grabbing the rope once more.

Scourge watched her repeat her routine of skidding on her behind and then standing up so she skid without the skis themselves and they continued for another 10 minutes before Sonia got tired and waved for them to stop.

"Do you want to go now?" asked Sonia, climbing into the boat.

"I guess so. It has been a long time since I got to be in water." said Scourge, grabbing the rope and lowering himself over the side.

That was only half true since this was actually the first day he'd ever been totally submerged in the water.

He let himself sink into the lake but when he felt no lake floor beneath him, he began to panic. He'd assumed the entire lake was as shallow as it had been near the shore, but way out here, he couldn't even feel the bottom, which meant he'd sink to the bottom and choke on water until he suffocated. He frantically tried to swim the way Aleena had shown him and attempted to paddle back to the motorboat, but to his dismay, he was floating away from it, and the orange vest he was wearing only made it harder to swim.

"HELP ME!" he shrieked.

"Manic, stop struggling." called out Sonic.

What was he talking about? Didn't he know how deep the water was out here? He hadn't even gotten out of the boat, yet.

"Manic, floaty vest." yelled Sonic, pointing to his own orange vest.

Did he say _float_-y?

Manic stopped flailing, and sure enough, he remained above the water. The purpose of the vest he was wearing became more clear as he could actually feel the vest pulling him up, preventing him from sinking.

Another sigh of relief. He had to stop being so jumpy.

"I think I'll wait a little longer." said Scourge, swimming back to the boat and climbing in.

"I guess it's my turn, then." said Jules, jumping out of the boat and swimming for the rope.

Aleena took over and drove while Jules did some skidding of his own. Scourge wrapped the towel around himself a second time and laid down on the seat to avoid the wind. The towel didn't cover him up a whole lot, but at least most of the wind was now rushing over him and the sun was shining brightly overhead. The sound of the boat, the smooth ride, and the warmth from the sun's rays all felt so soothing to the hedgehog as he lay there, soaking it all in.

Scourge didn't know how long he'd been laying there, but it must have been a while, because the next thing he knew, he was woken up by Sonia nudging him.

"Any good dreams?" she asked.

"Not really. How long was I out?" asked Scourge, yawning.

"Almost an hour. I wanted to wake you up, but mom said to let you sleep. I think she just liked seeing you so relaxed for a change." replied Sonia.

Scourge threw off the towel and sat up to see their house approaching.

"Are we done?" he asked.

"Nah, it's getting close to dinner time, so we'll take a break and then come back out later." said Jules as he parked the boat near the shoreline.

Scourge looked over to see Aleena's iPhone with a picture of a green hedgehog sleeping peacefully. He picked up the phone and took a closer look at it. It looked like a picture of Manic, given the hedgehog's similarity to the one in the missing photo he'd seen, though this one had much better quality. Must have been a slightly more recent shot of him.

"Anyone seen my phone?" asked Aleena, looking around the boat.

"Right here." said Scourge, handing the phone to her.

"When was that picture taken?" he asked, indicating the picture on her phone.

"Oh, about ten minutes ago while you were still sleeping." said Aleena, smiling.

That was _his_ picture?

He'd seriously thought he was looking at a picture of Manic...which was probably a good thing, now that he thought about it. If he could fool himself like that, then there probably wasn't any danger of someone noticing difference in appearance, at least.

Everyone got out of the boat while Jules tied it to the trailer he'd used to haul it out here and then everyone went inside and put on clothes that were dry. Everyone except Scourge, that is, since his clothes had dried off while he was asleep.

"So what is there to eat?" asked Scourge.

"We still got some pizza left over. There's also those fries you didn't finish at Rainforest." said Sonia.

She did have a point. Scourge wasn't use to eating a whole lot and was barely able to finish his burger. Only a few of his fries made it down with the sandwich, the rest were put in a styrofoam box which had been sitting in the fridge ever since they got home.

"Would...would it be alright if I got it out?" asked Scourge, not use to the idea of eating whenever he pleased, either.

"What are you asking me for? It's your fries." replied Sonia in bewilderment.

"Uh, right." said Scourge, heading for the kitchen.

_What was that all about?_ wondered Sonia.

It didn't take her long to figure it out.

He probably wasn't use to asking for food because he hadn't had the opportunity to do so. Sonia ran after the green hedgehog to see him pulling the styrofoam box out of the fridge.

"Hey uh, sorry about snapping like that." said Sonia.

"Snapping?" asked Scourge.

Sonia was about to tell him about how she didn't know that he wasn't use to asking for food, but decided against it since it might bring up unwanted memories.

"Err, yeah. If you ever need anything, just go and get it. You're one of us, after all, so you have just as much right to all the stuff we do." she continued.

"Oh, okay." said Scourge, pulling out a handful of fries and chewing on some.

Sonia was relieved that she hadn't caused any hard feelings on her brother's part.

Scourge made a face once he actually tasted some of the fries.

"There a way to warm these up?" he asked, noticing how cold they had become.

"Yeah, there's the microwave." replied Sonia, pointing to a black, glassy cabinet beside the fridge.

Scourge opened the microwave and placed the box of fries inside and closed it, but seemed confused at the dial of numbers beside the door.

"It's simple." said Sonia "You press _cook time_ and then type in how many minutes you want to cook the fries, and then press _start._"

A light came on inside the microwave, accompanied by a low humming. Sonia was about to leave the kitchen to go do her own thing, but then noticed the green hedgie staring intently at the microwave, like it was something he hadn't seen before, and she couldn't help wondering just how isolated he had been during his time in captivity. With that on her mind, she decided it would be best to stick around a bit longer, just to keep her brother company. God knows he needed it after all this time.

While waiting for the fries to finish, Scourge and Sonia enjoyed some leftover pizza from the previous night. Sonia had the remaining pepperoni pieces while Scourge tried some of the pieces with supreme toppings. The olives, sausage, and peppers tasted a bit strong, but it was still food, which was good enough for him. After a few minutes, the light and humming stopped and Scourge opened the microwave and ravenously attacked the golden sticks on his plate as if the food he'd eaten earlier had only been his imagination.

"They taste a little moist." he said.

"Yeah, thawing will do that to food." replied Sonia.

"Well they still tasted good." said Scourge.

Right about then Aleena and Jules came downstairs in dry clothes.

"Where'd Sonic run off to?" asked Jules.

That question was getting asked way too often.

"Sonic?" called Sonia.

"Down here. Could someone open the door for me? I'm waaaiiitiiiing" called Sonic from the basement.

Aleena went over to the basement door and opened it to reveal the blue hedgehog carrying a plastic mat with wires coming out of it.

"I thought we could have some fun until we went back out again." said Sonic, grinning.

"Great idea." said Sonia, helping him carry the mat over to the TV in the family room.

"What is it?" asked Scourge.

"It's something I got for us last Christmas. It's called _Dance Dance Revolution_." said Jules.

"Dance? I don't think I know how to dance." said Scourge, concern etched on his face.

"Oh it's pretty simple. You just tap the right buttons with your feet. It's alot of fun, actually." said Sonia, winking.

"Okay." said Scourge, following them into the family room.

Sonic and Sonia plugged in various wires to the TV and the wall and pressed a few buttons and images soon appeared on the screen. Sonia then selected a song and stood on the mat.

"Let me show you how it works." said Sonia, looking back at Scourge.

Arrows pointing in random directions went up the screen while Sonia danced around on the mat, matching up as many as she could. At the same time, an image of a man with sunglasses and cropped hair appeared on screen dancing similarly to Sonia while his theme music came on.

"Aw man, not this song." cringed Sonic.

"We're no strangers to love, you know the rules, and so do I..." sang Rick Astley.

For the next hour and a half, the family took turns hopping around on the mat to the song of their choice. At first, Scourge became frustrated when he couldn't seem to land any of the right moves, but soon he got the hang of it and even did as well as Sonic and Sonia. Of course, it had been a while since either of them had played DDR, so they weren't as good as they usually were. Jules and Aleena, however, had zero skill since they hadn't even tried it yet, but everyone still had fun.

Around 6:30, everyone decided to go boating again. The rest of the family got back into their swimming clothes while Scourge simply waited for them since he never took his off, to begin with.

"I'm waaaiiitiiing." he taunted.

"That's my line!" shouted Sonic from his room, upstairs.

A grand total of 12 seconds later, everyone raced down the stairs to the kitchen where Scourge was waaaiiitiiing for them and then went out the back door to the boat, and before long, they were off again.

"Can I water ski, this time?" asked Sonic as they got to the middle of the lake.

"I suppose I'll let you off the hook just this once, but only because it's the first time in years we've done this." said Jules.

Sonic dived out of the boat and swam toward the rope in the back and hung on as the boat itself accelerated. Like the rest of the family, Sonic had no problem water skiing without the actual skis. Scourge figured it was a family trait.

"WOOOOOHOOOOOOOO!" whooped Sonic, his fist raised in the air.

Jules seemed to take that as a challenge and turned the boat sharply to the right. Sonic hung on as though he were still going straight, so Jules turned to the left, but that didn't deter Sonic anymore than the first attempt.

"Just try it!" dared Sonic jokingly.

"Ya got to admire him. He's persistent." laughed Jules, speeding up the boat.

"5 years and he's still got it in him." beamed Aleena, proud of her athletic son. There was no sport Sonic couldn't excel at, and no obstacle he couldn't overcome. :)

"How hard could it be?" asked Scourge.

"Not very, but it's more difficult than swimming, if ya catch my drift." said Sonia.

"That was a one time thing, I still got my floaty vest." protested Scourge.

"Never said you couldn't try. Just be careful when you do. It can be rough if you don't fully remember." replied Sonia.

Scourge felt a chill going up his spine at the mention of memory. Was Sonia making some random reference to memories, or was she catching on? Either way, she was getting too close to the truth. For his own sake, Scourge hoped it was the former.

After a few minutes, Sonic finally let go of the rope and swam around until the boat came back around to pick him up.

"I guess I'll go now." volunteered Scourge.

"Make sure your vest is secure." said Aleena.

"I got it." assured Scourge, climbing out of the boat and dropping into the water, this time letting himself float around for a moment to make sure he was still floating, and then calmly swam over to the rope, once his fear of the water dissipated.

Again, he couldn't help noticing how relaxing the water felt and kept his mind on it as he grabbed the rope and hung on tight.

"Remember, just sit and skid, and if you feel like it, then go ahead and try standing, but make sure to dig your heels into the water as you do." called out Sonic.

"Gotcha!" replied Scourge.

With that, Jules accelerated the boat and Scourge hung on for all he was worth, determined to do it right this time. He dug his heels into the water, then pulled himself up on them, making sure to keep his balance as he did, but finally, he was standing on his feet. He was actually standing on water.

"YEEEEEAAAAAHHHHH!" shouted Scourge, raising his fist in the air like Sonic had.

He couldn't tell what was happening on the boat, but he thought he saw Aleena wiping a tear from her eye as she watched him. He hated to see her cry, but it looked like she was happy. Perhaps she was overwhelmed with joy, possibly at seeing her son water skiing again. It had been 5 years since they last did it together, after all.

But then the boat took a sharp turn to the left and the rope was ripped out of Scourge's grip. To his horror, he felt the life vest being ripped off of him as he crashed into the water. He'd forgotten to zip it up. Soon after, he found himself surrounded by a familiar warm blackness, except now it was a curse instead of a haven. Now he was trapped in that blackness, with no way to get back to the surface as all his efforts to claw his way up were in vain.

Not for the first time that day, he became witness to sheer cold terror, brought on by the helplessness he felt from being unable to escape the endless black void that was swallowing him up. The deeper he sank, the more desperate he became, and the more desperate he became, the harder he struggled, only to exhaust himself until he couldn't move anymore.

All he could do was silently plead for help as he was swallowed by the darkness once more...

In the midst of the black void which had completely engulfed him, he began to see an image forming in front of him. From what he could make out, it looked like a person, a hedgehog to be more exact. As he looked at it more clearly, he could see features on it that were frighteningly familiar. The hedgehog had bright green fur and messy hair that looked as if none of it had been washed or combed in years, complete with ragged clothing that was soaked with blood. His blood. Then he began to notice the hedgehog was laying on his back in what looked like the front yard of an old, run-down shack in the middle of a forest.

Robotnik's house.

He was looking at a vision of himself lying in Robotnik's front yard, dead or dying. But that all ended when he felt himself inflating like a balloon until the pressure became so great that he started to cough.

That was when his eyes shot open.

He was lying on the floor of the motorboat with Jules leaning over him, blowing air into his mouth. Scourge tried to let out the air breathed into him, but he coughed up water instead. Water that he had taken in while he was submerged.

No sooner had he finished coughing up water when he found himself unable to breathe again, thanks to Jules hugging him so tightly, but he was just glad to be back and let himself sink into Jules' embrace. However, he was in so much shock that he remained silent, staring into nothing.

Only one thing went through his mind: why had he seen a vision of himself lying in Robotnik's front yard?

Was this really all a dream like he had suspected? Was he still in Robotnik's yard imagining the food and the loving family? What if he still hadn't woken up from the dream he'd had about Aleena in Robotnik's basement? Was he still down there in that cold, dark hell he'd been cursed with, asleep in front of the stack of magazines from which he'd found the article about Manic and his family?

After Jules released Scourge, he merely pinched himself to see if he was dreaming.

When Aleena wrapped her arms around Scourge like Jules had, Scourge showed no outward emotion, he only poked Aleena's arm. Aleena noticed this, of course, and asked Scourge what was wrong. His only reply was "Are you real?"

By then, it was obvious he was in shock, so Jules brought the boat back to the house, as it was getting dark anyway, and everyone went inside. Scourge asked to be left alone for a while and stayed in his room. But as he sat there, thinking about the whole thing, curiosity got the best of him and he decided to go down to the basement to look for answers. It was unlikely he'd find anything useful, but he had to know if this was a dream or reality, and the best place to look for clues seemed to be the basement since that was a place he was familiar with.

He crept out of his room and silently made his way down the stairs, looking around to make sure no one saw him, and silently opened the basement door and made his way down the steps, ready for anything, but as he got to the bottom, the darkness of the place struck a nerve, so he turned on the lights and felt slightly better, and then went over to the middle of the basement, wondering what he should do next. After a while, he decided to simply stay there, waiting for something to happen since that was how he'd spent most of his days. But as he stood there, nothing came to him, and he began to grow tired, so he sat down and waited some more, but still nothing.

By now it had gotten dark outside and he was starting to feel the need for rest, so his eyes began to slide shut. Scourge tried to keep them open and somehow make sense of everything that had happened in the past week, but it was a loosing battle and he eventually dozed off.

He found himself at the top of a snowy hill, once again. He felt himself being pushed from behind and he soared down, laughing from excitement. As before, he slid across a snow mound and shot up before landing in the cold white fluff. He began to wonder if he'd been here before, sensing a familiarity about this event, like he'd seen it before, but his attention turned to Aleena running down the hill after him. She picked him up and checked him over to make sure he wasn't hurt.

"Are you okay?" she asked, her voice like an angel singing.

"I'm fine." laughed Scourge in a squeaky voice, reaching out to touch her face.

He noticed the thick sleeve of a blue snow coat he was wearing, as well as a mitten on the hand he was using, which was a deeper shade of blue than the coat itself.

His touching her made her hold him closer, but as she turned to take him back up the hill, she tripped over the sled he'd rode and fell on her back into the soft snow. It startled both of them, but they laughed it off. Scourge found himself snuggled in Aleena's warm embrace while she ran her hands through his quills. The sensations made him feel relaxed and he closed his eyes as he rested his head on her shoulder.

He knew there was something he should be concerned about, but it slipped his mind as he lost himself in the peaceful setting. Here with the mother he'd always wanted, in a place where he could leave his troubles behind, he felt total contentment, not wanting it to end.

Then he felt someone grab him from behind. Robotnik, his basement prison, the pain and hunger, it all came rushing back to him. It had only been a dream and now he'd wake up and face his worst fears.

_It is time for our get together..._

But when his eyes opened, he saw only Aleena kneeling in front of him.

"Are you real?" he asked nervously.

Aleena said nothing and merely reached out and pulled Scourge up until he was standing and hugged her baby, refusing to let him go.

"I'm as real as the home you live in." she said, unable to fight back the tears.

She wasn't going to lose her baby boy again. Certainly not to someone who wasn't even here.

"When I almost drowned, I dreamed I was still at the other house and wondered if this was all just a dream, too." sobbed Scourge, burying his face in her shoulder to block out the rest of the world.

Aleena held him even tighter, letting him know that he was safe here.

"You're still here, and I'm not gonna let him take you away from me, ever. Don't believe the lie that you don't belong with us. Whatever that man told you was wrong. You _do_ belong here and he's never going to take you away again." said Aleena.

Slowly, Aleena's words began to ring true. If this was his imagination, then why did he keep waking up to it instead of in Robotnik's house?

"I'm...really not dreaming?" said Scourge, but then jumped when he felt Aleena pinch him.

"Now do you believe this is all real?" she asked, partially laughing.

Feeling a bit relieved, Scourge rested his head on her shoulder as she continued running her fingers through his quills, like in the snowy dream.

"To be honest, even I had trouble believing that it was really you at times since it seemed too good to be true, but now I'm certain we have the right son. When you woke up, I was amazed you even remembered us at all. With how long you had been gone, I thought you wouldn't even recognize us since you were so young when you were taken from us. While you are having some trouble recovering, I'm glad to see that you're adjusting better than I thought you would." she said.

_If only_. thought Scourge.

"I thought about you while I was gone." said Scourge, looking up at her. "I thought about you holding me and taking me away from that dark basement."

"Well then let's leave it together." said Aleena, moving toward the stairs.

Scourge followed her until he was next to her. Then he took her hand and they both went up the stairs together, leaving the basement, and all the fear it brought, behind, once and for all.

Scourge could rest easy. Now he knew he was safe.

Minutes later, he'd been tucked into bed and was ready to shut his eyes. But then he heard his door open and looked up to see Sonia standing in the doorway.

"Hey Manic," she said "would you like to come sleep with me and Sonic, just in case you have more nightmares?"

That did sound like a good idea.

"Yeah, I guess so." replied Scourge.

He followed Sonia down the hallway to the guest room which contained a bed big enough for the three of them. Sonic was already lying one one side, waiting for the rest of them.

"We're sleeping in the same bed?" asked Scourge, nervously.

"Yeah, we use to do it all the time when we were tots." said Sonia.

"Oh, right." said Scourge.

_Maybe it wouldn't be so bad, then._

Scourge climbed into the bed next to Sonic while Sonia turned out the lights and climbed in after him, sandwiching him between the two siblings. Somehow, it made him feel safer, having them on both sides.

"Goodnight, guys." said Scourge, closing his eyes.

No response.

"Guys?"

The serenity of the moment was shattered by two fluffy objects slamming down on him. Startled, Scourge opened his eyes to see both siblings kneeling over him with their pillows at the ready.

"PILLOW FIGHT!" they shouted.


	9. Physical Therapy

**Sorry this chapter is so short, but I thought it would be best to keep it as a sepearate chapter. I'd also like to thank Riku's Music Lover and Twilit Guardian for helping me out a bit.**

_"Manic, could you get the eggs?" Aleena asked him._

_"No prob." he replied, walking over to the fridge and pulling out two eggs before shutting the door and bringing them back to Aleena who was already pouring water and vegetable oil into the mixing bowl._

_Aleena took the eggs and cracked them and dumped their yolk onto the chocolate powder in the bowl and dumped the shells into the trash can next to the counter top. She then lowered a mixer into the bowl and turned it on. The tiny Green Hedgehog assisting her watched in fascination as the chocolate powder turned to a wet syrupy substance as it mixed with the water, oil, and egg yolk._

_She then tipped the bowl over a glass oven tray and poured out the brown goop while her son scooped out the rest of it with a spatula until every last drop was in the glass tray. Then they turned their attention to the oven, which was preheated, and opened it, the warm air carressing their faces as it escaped, and they stuck the brown substance inside and closed the oven door. They set the timer for 30 minutes and waited for the chocolatey smell._

_As they waited, they could definitely smell something, but instead of chocolate, it smelled...like waffles. The scent of butter and syrup was in the air, and was getting stronger. Before long, the smell became overpowering..._

Scourge's eyes opened to an unfamiliar room clearly not his own. Aleena and the oven were gone, but the smell of waffles remained. He looked down at the head of the bed he was in to see Sonic and Sonia sitting next to him, each holding a plate of food.

"Wakey, wakey. Time for breakfast." said Sonia, setting a plate of bacon and eggs on a tray in front of Scourge while Sonic set a plate full of waffles and a glass of milk right next to it.

_That explains the waffle smell._ thought Scourge, sitting up.

"Took you long enough, I was beginning to think you'd never wake up." joked Sonic.

"Sorry, I'm not use to sleeping on a bed _that_ soft." apologized Scourge, emphasizing the bed's softness.

"No need to be sorry, I've just never seen anyone sleep in until 11 in the morning." replied Sonic.

"That late?...err wait, how late is that?" asked Scourge, a little fuzzy on the concept of time since he put most of his effort into killing it rather than keeping track of it while in captivity.

"About an hour till noon, which is mid day." said Sonia, catching on to her 'brother's' problem.

Scourge didn't know a whole lot about the time of day, but an hour till mid day did sound pretty late to him, especially since Sonic and Sonia looked like they'd already showered and dressed themselves while he was still asleep.

"That bed must've felt _really_ soft. How hard..." Sonic was about to ask Scourge how hard his bed at Robotnik's house was, but decided not to dwell on that particular past since the poor boy was having enough trouble adjusting without being reminded of the years stolen from his life.

That being said, he was determined to help his brother gain his life back, no matter how difficult it was for him.

"I, uh...slept on rags." said Scourge, easily figuring out what Sonic had meant to ask him.

Looks like the cat was already out of the bag.

"Was that all you slept on?" asked Sonia.

"Yeah...and I was kept in the basement alot." said Scourge flatly, his ears drooping from the shame he felt at his pain being laid bare for the world to see.

"Well at least that's over." Sonia assured him.

"Yeah." agreed Scourge, trying to forget it since everyone else seemed to be doing just that.

Just hearing about the rags and the basement made Sonic wince. That had to be uncomfortable, not to mention freezing cold. He remembered sleeping in front of a fan the previous summer and woke up stiff as a rock the next morning, but that was just one night. He couldn't imagine going through that every night for nearly 5 years. Manic must've gone through that so often that he'd gotten use to it. Only one way to find out.

The blue hedgehog reached out and grabbed Scourge's shoulders and gently squeezed them, gradually hardening his grip.

"You must be pretty stiff from laying on a cold floor every night." he said.

Scourge hadn't realized how right Sonic was until he had started massaging him. He let his head lean forward, stretching out the muscle in his shoulders, and let the blue hedgehog do the rest. He couldn't quite describe the treatment except that he now felt lighter and more flexible than before, minus the stiffness that he didn't even know he previously had. Then Sonic moved on to his neck, and again Scourge felt the tension leaving him, though in a different spot.

"Hold still, don't tighten up." said Sonia, holding Scourge's head in her hands.

She leaned his head to the right until it reached it's limit, and then pushed it a bit further, stretching it out until she heard crackling noises, then leaned it the other way with similar results, bringing more relief to Scourge.

"Now lay on your front side." said Sonia.

6 words that sounded all too familiar.

Scourge's head snapped upward and he got off the bed, away from the two siblings.

"Manic, what's wrong?" asked Sonia.

"I think you came on a bit thick, there." said Sonic, quickly figuring out the problem.

"All I did was ask him to lay on his front side." replied Sonia.

"It's nothing, just forget about it." said Scourge, not wanting the issue pressed any further.

"Sonia, what you told him to do was something Robotnik-"

"IT'S NOTHING! JUST SHUT UP!" shouted Scourge, who fled the room in embarrassment.

For a moment, both hedgehogs just stared at the door in shock before Sonic finally broke the silence.

"Do ya get what I mean, now?" he asked.

"I think so." replied Sonia.

Only after remembering Robotnik did Sonia finally understand how awkward her request must have sounded to Manic.

"I hope he doesn't have a nervous breakdown or something." she said, walking out of the room, after her brother.

It was hard dealing with Manic's absence for 5 years, but the worst part of it was not knowing if he was okay, not knowing what he was going through. Judging from his reaction alone, her worst fears had been confirmed. He was alive, but he'd endured something horrible that he didn't even want discussed, and given that he'd freaked out over her asking him to lay on his front side, she had a pretty good idea of what it was he went through. All she wanted was for her family to be together again, for things to be the way they had been before. It was tragic to lose Manic, but for him to come back physically but not mentally was heartbreaking. He might as well have not come back at all if he couldn't accept the fact that he was safe and had nothing to fear here.

She was abut to look for her brother downstairs when she noticed the door to mom and dad's room was closed. He must've wanted to be with mom and dad, but dad had already gone to work and mom had gone out jogging.

"Manic?" she asked, knocking on the door.

No response.

"Manic, I didn't mean to upset you. I just wanted to make sure your back wasn't stiff like your shoulders." she continued.

"Why'd you want me to lay on my front?" asked Scourge, sounding choked up.

"So I could press down on your back like we did with your neck. Chiropractors do it all the time." she said, hoping he'd understand her this time.

The door opened slightly and Sonia could see tear stains on Scourge's face.

"Where'd mom go?" he asked, shakily.

She was relieved that he wasn't upset about the awkward situation anymore.

"She went out jogging. She'll be back really soon." assured Sonia.

As soon as she finished, Scourge leaned into her, putting his arms around her and burying his face in her shoulder, wanting to be held by someone, if not Aleena. If not the woman he'd come to accept as his mother.

Sonia hugged him tightly, refusing to let anymore harm come to him.

Soon after, Scourge felt Sonic hugging him from behind, but this time he felt safe in their embrace, knowing their love for him was real. If they'd been attempting anything, they could have easily overpowered him, not caring how he felt, but instead, they went to great lengths to make him happy, and even brought him breakfast in bed, something he'd never thought of before. As embarrassed as he was about them bringing up something that they could never have imagined, he couldn't stay angry for long after seeing how much they cared. That alone seemed like a product of his dreams only weeks before, but here they were making it happen.

"I'd hate to break up the moment, but your breakfast is starting to chill." whispered Sonic, releasing Scourge from his arms.

Sonia also released Scourge and he went back to the guest bedroom to get started on the delicacy his new brother and sister made for him.


	10. Workout

**Sorry for the long wait. Originally, this was the rest of the previous chapter, but I decided to make them separate. In hindsight, it probably wasn't such a great idea, so I'll be sure to keep chapters whole from now on, no matter how tempting it is to disect them. Now, on with the fic.**

The door to the bathroom opened and Scourge walked out, fur washed, teeth brushed, and wearing a t-shirt that read _Cereal Killer,_ over a pair of blue gym shorts. The weather wasn't the only reason he was wearing those shorts. Sonic had offered to help him get stronger by showing him how to use the workout equipment in the basement, and Scourge wasn't about to pass up an opportunity like that.

As he walked down the stairs, he heard the shower in Mom and Dad's room being used. Probably Sonia.

He went to the basement door which was already open and walked casually down the stairs. Just yesterday it seemed like a place of suffering that he could never truly escape from. Now he was going down there to get strong. Who would have thought?

Upon reaching the foot of the stairs, he could hear clanging noises and looked around the stairwell to see Sonic in his own t-shirt and shorts, sitting in front of a machine pulling down a long bar with a cable attached to it that was pulling on a set of weights so that everytime Sonic pulled the bar down, the weights got pulled up. Scourge didn't know how heavy the weights were, but he counted at least 9 of them attached to the bar cable.

"NINETY-NINE...ONE HUNDRED!" said Sonic, finishing up his reps.

Scourge suddenly felt unsure of this whole thing. Would Sonic ridicule him if he couldn't do that many? Obviously the guy was ripped for a reason while Scourge wasn't, so there was more than a good chance that he wouldn't be able to do as many as blue boy. That being said, he hoped that Sonic wouldn't rub his face in it.

"How long did it take you to to be able to do that many?" asked Scourge, nervously.

"I was joking. I only did about 50." laughed Sonic.

That meant those weights were heavier than Scourge thought.

"So how many did you get when you started out?" asked the green hedgehog.

"Two or three, but this isn't what you'll start out with. First we're gonna have you do some dumbells." replied Sonic.

"Uhh...Dumbells? XD" laughed Scourge, finding the name humorous.

"Or barbells, whichever one works for you." said blue boy casually as he walked over to the bench press and picked some rather tiny looking barbells off the floor.

"These are what you will start out with." he said.

o_O "I thought I was supposed to lift the heavy ones until I got use to them." said Scourge awkwardly.

"Some people do that, but they wear themselves out very quickly. By starting out small, your muscles get use to the effort so that you're more ready to lift heavier weights than if you'd had no practice at all." replied Sonic.

"I guess that makes sense." said Scourge.

"Alright then, take these and follow my movements." said Sonic, handing the 10 pound dumbells to Scourge and picking up a second set of equally small weights.

He then lifted the right barbell up until it reached his shoulder and then lowered it, all without moving anything other than his hand and lower arm. Scourge did the same, which seemed easy enough, then the other arm. He did this 10 more times before he noticed his arms were beginning to wear out.

Working out was definitely not what he thought it would be.

He set the dumbells down and rested on the bench.

"It's tough, I know. The first time is never what anyone expects." assured Sonic.

Scourge then heard someone coming down the stairs and looked up to see Sonia holding several bottles of water. She handed him a bottle and he took a swig before twisting the cap back on. He'd just started, so he wasn't that thirsty. Sonic, on the other hand, quckly drained his bottle and finished half of the next one Sonia handed him.

"Thanks." they both said.

"No problem, I was feeding Sophia when I noticed you guys came here without me, so I got water out of the fridge in case you needed it."

"Was that before or after you showered?" asked Scourge, picking the dumbells up again.

"What do you mean?" she asked.

"When I came downstairs, I heard someone using the shower in mom and dad's room. Wasn't that you?" asked Scourge.

"No, I think that was mom back from jogging. I only use my own shower and I used it while you were still asleep." replied Sonia.

Scourge remembered waking up to see Sonic and Sonia sitting beside him with the food they'd prepared for him, but he also faintly recalled them being fully dressed as if they'd been awake for some time, so what Sonia said did make sense, which meant that Aleena came back from jogging while he was in the shower, and then got in her own shower while he got out of his. Irony.

He started pumping the small weights again just to get warmed up and after another 10 reps, he was ready to move onto something else.

"What's next?" he asked, taking another swig.

"The abdominal." replied Sonic, patting his hand on an exercise machine.

Scourge sat down in the seat and looked at the bar in front of him.

"How does this work?" he asked.

"You press against the bar with your chest and press down on it. Doing this helps build up abs." said Sonic.

"What are abs again?" asked Scourge.

"Stomach muscles. This device will help make them bigger after you use it enough." continued Sonic.

"Okay. How many weights should I do?" asked Scourge.

"Start out with 3 and see if you can handle that."

Scourge hooked up 3 of the weights and, after positioning himself carefully so as not to damage the stitches on his chest, pushed forward on the padded bar in front of him. At first he thought he'd added too many weights, but he kept trying until the weights finally gave and he pushed forward, and then leaned back, letting the weights slam down.

"Was that too heavy?" asked Sonic.

"No, I got it." said Scourge, repeating the slow agonizing process until he successfully lifted the weights a second time...then a third...then a fourth...and finally, a fifth.

The weights clattered back down loudly while Scourge laid back in the chair, catching his breath. Sweat soaked his fur, making it uncomfortable. He reached for his bottle of water on the floor, but he couldn't find the energy to lean down to get it, so Sonic handed it to him and he drained it.

"Need a break?" his brother asked him.

"No, I feel great. What's next?" asked Scourge.

"You sure? You're gonna tire yourself out really quick." warned Sonia, lifting some barbells of her own.

"I feel fine. What do I do next?" he asked.

"If you insist." said Sonic. "Next is the vertical butterfly."

They both walked over to a weight machine with a chair flanked by two handle bars.

"First, you sit in the chair, then you set the weights to the desired amount, preferably the first 5 smaller weights, and then you pull the two handle bars together. This will help make the pectoral muscles on your chest bigger." said Sonic as he walked Scourge through it.

Scourge spread his arms slowly to avoid opening the scar on his chest again and then pulled the handle bars together and nearly strained himself, but he was determined to finish and continued until he'd pulled them together a good 10 times.

(...)

After doing the vertical butterfly, the exercise bike, the chin up bar, and various other exercise routines, Scourge was flat worn out. Sweat soaked his fur and clothes and he struggled to stay upright as he walked to the stairs. Thankfully, Sonic and Sonia helped him up said stairs, but once they reached the top, Sonia mentioned something about the time of day and Sonic started to panic and they both raced upstairs to their bedrooms, leaving Scourge to find a resting spot on his own. He saw the family room and staggered toward it in a very zombie like fashion until he reached the couch and collapsed onto it, face down.

As he lay there, he opened his eye just a bit to see Aleena in the kitchen. He would have jumped up and run over to her and hugged her, but he was too exhausted from exercising. He really should have listened to Sonic.

All he could manage was "Mom...could you lift my leg onto the couch?"

He heard someone laughing, but he couldn't tell if it was Aleena or Sonic. It didn't matter, sleep was swallowing up his consciousness, so his eyes slid shut.

(...)

Throughout his nap, no dreams crossed Scourge's mind, save for what felt like someone picking him up, leaving him in an otherwise dreamless slumber, which was fine with him.

(...)

Some time later, Scourge's consciousness returned to him and he was aware of a familiar warm feeling.

He opened his eyes to find himself still on the couch, but this time, he was laying on top of Aleena, who was asleep on her back. He was uncomfortable with this odd behavior from her, but at the same time, she was the one person he'd wanted so badly to be with ever since he saw that picture of her in Robotnik's basement. While he was tempted to get up and walk away from the awkward situation, he didn't want to think that Aleena might try to abuse him in some way like Robotnik had. While it would be easier to just avoid her, he couldn't stand not knowing if she still loved him or not, so he decided to find out.

"Mom...mom." he said, shaking her awake.

"Mmmm?" she mumbled, opening her eyes.

Her face lit up at seeing her long lost son and she placed her hand on his face, wanting to feel it after so many years of worrying about seeing it again.

"No matter how many times I see your face, it still feels like the first time in years." she said, her voice choked and her eyes watered.

Scourge felt like his heart had been pierced. Of all the horrible things he'd experienced, seeing Aleena cry was one of the hardest. He'd come to accept her as his new mother and hated to see her hurting, but he had to make sure she didn't have some hidden agenda when she placed him on top of her while he was asleep, so he backed away from her and kept his distance.

"Mom...why did you put me on top of you?" he asked nervously, expecting her to get angry or rush at him, fists swinging.

Instead, she looked surprised.

"Oh, I didn't mean to scare you. I was tired and wanted to lay down after I got back from taking Sonic and Sonia to their karate class, but then I saw you sleeping on the couch and I remembered all the previous times I woke up, sure that you were there, only to discover that you were still missing." she said, tears running down her face. "I wanted to be as close to you as possible."

Scourge darted forward and wrapped his arms around Aleena, hugging her as tight as he could while she did the same to him.

"I'm sorry I scared you." she whispered.

"I'm sorry I made you cry." choked Scourge, wanting her to be happy again.

She had felt the same longing for her son that he had felt for her. She truly cared about him.

"Don't be sorry. What you went through was far worse than me worrying." she replied, releasing Scourge from her embrace.

She did have a point.

"While I was there, all I got was bread and water. I didn't even know so much more food existed before I got home." said Scourge with disgust.

Then he remembered the dream he had that morning.

"Do we have anything chocolatey?"

"We sure do. I know just the thing." said Aleena, heading over to the kitchen, her mood back to normal.

She certainly seemed lit up by whatever it was she was getting from the kitchen, so Scourge followed her, eager to find out what it was.

Aleena opened the closet pantry and pulled out a red box marked _Brownies_. Scourge was instantly enticed by the images of fudge squares on the box. Aleena pulled the bag of chocolate powder out and poured it into a metal bowl and looked at the back of the box.

"It says we need water, oil, and eggs. Would you mind getting the eggs out of the fridge?" she asked.

_Whoa, deja vu._ Scourge thought.

"No problem." he said, walking toward the big box.

He opened it and grabbed two white eggs and brought them back to Aleena who was already dumping the water and vegetable oil into the mixing bowl. She took the eggs, cracked them over the bowl, and threw the shells away. She and Scourge then took turns using the mixer to turn the messy contents of the bowl into a brown syrup. After that, they scooped it all out into a glass tray and brought it to the oven.

Just like in the dream Scourge had that morning.

"Might want to stay back. I preheated it while you were getting the eggs." said Aleena, holding the tray.

"KK." said Scourge, backing up a foot.

Aleena pulled the oven door open and Scourge felt the warmth even from a distance.

Aleena closed the oven door and set the timer for 30 minutes.

"What should we do while we wait?" she asked.

"Uhh...not sure. What do you think?" asked Scourge.

"I might have an idea." replied Aleena, heading for the family room.

Scourge followed her and sat down next to her on the couch. She picked up the remote and turned on the TV and switched to a channel which showed a yellow sponge and a pink starfish catching jellyfish with butterfly nets while helping a squid in a wheel chair.

Must have been a favorite show of Manic's that he and Aleena would watch together sometimes.

"Firmly grasp it in your hand." said the pink starfish, placing the base of a butterfly net in a bandaged squid's hand, only to have it fall off.

The starfish picked the net back up and condescendingly said "Firmly grasp it" as he placed it back in the squid's bandaged hand, only to have it fall off again.

_Wait, is this the part where he sticks it through his hand?_ thought Scourge.

"FIRMLY GRASP IT!" said the starfish angrily as he slammed it down on the squid's hand. Said squid got a look of pain on his face and the camera switched to an image of his hand with a jellyfish net stabbed through it.

_How did I know that was going to happen?_ wondered Scourge. _And how did I dream of brownies if I've never had them before?_


	11. Risk of Freedom

After watching Spongebob and Patrick attempt to catch jellyfish (and fail), they watched Spongebob and Squidward stay up all night at the Krusty Krab while Squidward scared Spongebob with stories of some weird hash guy, but before long, started believing his own story, though Scourge did get a bit nervous seeing the shadowy figure enter the restaraunt looking all sinister and needed to be held by Aleena, then they watched the one where Spongebob got bad breath and thought everyone was running away from him because he was ugly, which was his personal favorite. The part where the fish made a weird face and freaked out in the theater had Scourge rolling on the floor laughing until he was in tears while Aleena was in stitches from hearing the ugly barnacle story. The part where Patrick yelled at the audience while his voice turned evil (I want all of you to LOOK AT IT) only made them laugh even harder.

Then the oven started beeping, which meant the brownies were done. :D

Both hedgehogs were in the kitchen within seconds and the timer was turned off as the tray was pulled from it's toasty confinement.

"Let's let them cool before we try them." suggested Aleena, putting the oven mitts back in the drawer.

"How long?" asked Scourge, eager to get at the chocolate fudge cake which was driving his sense of smell crazy.

"About five minutes." said Aleena.

While they were waiting, Scourge got curious and asked Aleena when everyone else would get back.

"Your father will pick up Sonic and Sonia from karate class on his way home from work." said Aleena.

"How long will that be?" asked Scourge.

Aleena was about to answer, but then got an idea.

"Why don't you call your father on your new cell phone?" she suggested.

Scourge pulled out his phone from his pocket. He pressed a small button on the top of it and the screen lit up.

"What do I do now?" he asked.

"Press the phonebook button and select your dad's number." she said.

He pressed what looked like a book and a list of phone numbers he'd typed in the day before now appeared on the screen. After scrolling down to the number labeled _Dad_, he pressed the green call button and the screen went white and displayed the onscreen message C_alling Dad..._

After a few seconds, he heard ringing. It rang twice before he heard a familiar voice ask "Hello?"

"Hi dad, it's Manic." said Scourge.

"Good to hear your voice again." gushed Jules sentimentally.

"I was just wondering when you were gonna bring Sonic and Sonia home?" asked Scourge.

"Well I have about 40 minutes left before I get off work, plus another 15 to pick up your brother and sister before I get home, so I'll be home in about an hour." replied Jules.

"Okay, see you soon." said Scourge.

"Love you, bye." said Jules.

"Love you, too." said Scourge, pressing the red button, ending the call.

"So what'd he say?" asked Aleena.

"He said an hour." replied the green hedgie.

"Sounds like we got some time on our hands. ^_^" said Aleena.

"Yeah, enough time to finish those brownies!" said Scourge, racing for the tray sitting on the stove.

"Hold on, we still gotta cut em up." said Aleena, coming in after him.

She pulled a knife from a wooden knife holder on a nearby countertop and ran the knife through the large fudge cake, cutting two lines down the middle, and four lines down the side, leaving 15 pieces.

"There's enough for everyone to get three, so take three and leave the rest for Sonic, Sonia, and your dad." she said.

"Awesome!" said Scourge, picking out three pieces that caught his eye and putting them on a paper plate.

Aleena got milk from the fridge and paper cups from the cabinets and poured two cups. After they got everything they needed, they headed back to the family room and sat on the couch enjoying their chocolatey snacks.

"So how did your day go?" asked Aleena.

"Well, I worked out and got really tired from it and fell asleep on the couch, but before that, Sonic and Sonia made me waffles and then made my neck and shoulders feel better." said Scourge.

This peaked Aleena's curiosity.

"Really? How'd they do that?"

"Sonic rubbed my shoulders while Sonia fixed my neck, and it felt pretty good. But then she told me to lie on my front side and it made me feel weird, so we stopped." replied Scourge.

Aleena looked concerned after hearing that as it was obvious what he meant. She knew he had trouble dealing with his past experiences, but she didn't want to keep bringing them up as she couldn't keep coddling him the rest of his life, so she decided to try a different approach.

"Why did Sonia want you to lay on your front?" she asked.

"She'd mentioned something about pressing down on my back." said Scourge awkwardly.

"Like a chiropractor?" said Aleena.

"Yeah, that's what Sonia said." pointed out Scourge.

"Jules sometimes does that to help set my back into place if I feel stiff." said Aleena.

"Stiff? You mean like when it hurts to move?" asked Scourge.

"Yes, exactly...how often have you felt that?" asked Aleena, knowing how uncomfortable his confinement was.

"Most of the time, but I got used to it." said Scourge.

"It's probably best to make sure you're not having any problems then. Why don't you lie on your front side while I work out the kinks." she suggested.

Confident that his new mother would never harm him, Scourge did as he was told and layed on his front and simply relaxed. Aleena pressed her hands down on his back and moved them back and forth, careful to avoid his quills. Scourge closed his eyes and simply enjoyed the back rub.

_Her hands sure are soft._ he thought as he fought to stay awake.

Aleena continued rubbing his back while feeling around for anything out of place until she got to his lower back. Then she pressed down harder than the other places, and for a moment, Scourge saw stars as his back made loud popping noises, followed by sudden relief. He pushed himself up with his arms and discovered he could bend all the way backward without feeling any pain. He'd always assumed that it was muscle pain from years of lying on a basement floor and being constantly whipped with a belt, but it never occured to him that he might have a joint or two out of place.

_So THATs what Sonia was trying to help me out with._ thought Scourge.

"Are you feeling alright?" asked Aleena.

"Yeah, I can move around easier now. Thanks." thanked Scourge, sitting upright on the couch. "How'd you know where to press?"

"I've had training. Always wanted to be a massage therapist, someone who fixes people like that. Besides, a mother always knows. ^^" she replied, pulling Scourge into a motherly embrace.

Remembering how much he'd wanted this while in captivity, Scourge didn't want the moment to end and laid his head on Aleena's shoulder, absorbing her warmth while she ran her hands up and down his back. It felt so wonderful to have a mother that cared about him, one who just wanted to hold him. Not hit him or abuse him, just hold him, the way only a real mother could. He closed his eyes and relaxed, breathing in her flowery smell. Feeling completely at peace, he almost felt as if he'd never been kidnapped at all, like it was all just a bad dream.

"Chao!"

Scourge's eyes opened.

"You say something?" he asked.

"No, that was Sophia." said Aleena. "I think Sonia forgot to feed her before she left."

"Chao! Chao!"

"She sounds hungry. What does she eat?" asked Scourge.

"Mostly fruit, but I think you can feed them just about anything." said Aleena.

"If Sonia didn't feed her, we probably should." said Scourge.

"Yeah, maybe we should." agreed the older hedgehog.

Both went into the kitchen and cut some strawberries and brought them upstairs to Sonia's room to find the fluffy creature hopping up and down excitedly in it's glass cage.

"CHAO!" it squeaked.

"She must be _really_ hungry." said Scourge, feeling concern for the poor thing.

He hoped it hadn't suffered the same isolation he had all his life.

Aleena lifted the top off the glass container and picked up the chao, which reached for the fruit in Scourge's arms. At least that's what they both thought. As soon as Scourge extended a strawberry slice toward the eager chao, it didn't go for the fruit, it grabbed his hand.

Aleena watched the small creature climb up the green hedgehog's arm and rest itself in his lap. It didn't want food, it wanted affection, and it wanted it from someone who had also been longing for it.

Scourge was more than a little surprised. Wanting to be loved by someone else was one thing, but someone wanting to be loved by him was entirely different. He set the saucer of sliced strawberries down and held Sophia in his arms, cradling her like a newborn baby. She only stared back into his eyes as he held her. Scourge held the chao close to himself to give it warmth. As he did, it absorbed the color of his arm fur, like it did the night he came home from the hospital. Despite most of the warmth coming from his body, Sophia imitated the color of the part that wasn't covered by clothes.

As Aleena watched this, she finally understood the significance of it. Sophia was a transparent chao that had no default color of her own, so she absorbed the color of whatever she attached herself to long enough. Transparent chaos were very rare, not because so few of them were born that way, but because many of them didn't survive for very long. It was well known that chaos were the only animals to have distinctive features rather than looking identical to eachother, but they also developed colorful fur coatings similarly to how Mobians did, but if a chao was abandoned or rejected, it usually didn't develop any colors of it's own and became transparent, adopting the color of whatever it came into contact with. However, it had a hard time surviving without any kind of guardian, which was why Transparent ones were so rare. Only in captivity were they safe. Sophia was one of those Chaos, abandoned- or lost- by her parents and was barely alive when she was found and brought to an animal shelter where Aleena and Jules had picked her out as a present for Sonia several years ago. Manic, on the other hand, had a family that loved him, but he was taken from them and kept in a basement like an animal in a cage, only his new master treated him far worse than any pet, and like Sophia, was nearly dead when he'd been found, and now that he was back, all Sophia wanted to do was be with him. It mattered not that she'd never seen him before, she still sought him out over everyone else in the house, which was saying something since Sophia wasn't too comfortable around strangers.

Aleena wasn't a Chao expert, but she wondered if perhaps they could sense emotions. Did Sophia sense the loneliness in Manic that she had also felt? If so, that would explain the apparent bond forming between them. Scourge offered Sophia a strawberry slice and she gobbled it up. She wasn't all that hungry before he came in, but now she seemed famished. Perhaps his presence had affected her willingness to eat?

Scourge continued to feed her strawberry slices until they were all gone. By then, he had gotten tired of holding her and set her back in her glass cage, but she started whining, not wanting to be put back just yet.

"Does she have to go to the bathroom?" asked Scourge.

"I think she wants to go outside." replied Aleena.

"What does she do out there?" asked Scourge.

"She either goes potty or eats bugs, usually mosquitoes, but mostly she just likes to run around. She doesn't get to do that in her cage, after all." said the purple hedgehog.

"Yeah, we should take her outside then." said Scourge, taking Sophia out of the glass cage again.

"Chao!" she squeaked happily.

Either she was happy to get out of that cage or she really liked Scourge, maybe both.

They brought her down the stairs and she seemed calm enough, but upon going out the door, the little critter wriggled and squirmed, trying to get out of Scourge's arms. Her reaction to being freed reminded Scourge of his own escape from Robotnik's house, except Sophia's experience was alot less painful, something he envied her for.

"CHAO!" she squeaked, trying to get away.

"Should I set her down?" asked Scourge, looking at Aleena.

"Yeah, I think this would be a good place." she assured.

Scourge set the little chao down in the grass and she scurried around, enjoying her newfound freedom.

They both watched her run around until she got bored and came scampering back to her favorite hedgehog and pawed at him, trying to get him to play with her.

"Chao!"

Scourge picked her up and put her on his shoulder, but she preferred climbing on top of his head.

Aleena laughed at the sight of her son with a chao on top of his head but went silent with amazement when it blended in with his green hair. She knew Sophia had bonded with him, but her blending in with his fur completely only made it more obvious.

"Chao!" squeaked Scourge's new hairstyle.

Aleena laughed again.

(Later...)

Sometime later, a familiar looking car rolled up to the driveway and into the garage, and three familiar looking hedgehogs hopped out.

"Whatcha doin out here?" asked Sonic.

"We took Sophia out to play. She's hiding." replied Scourge.

"Where'd she go?" asked Sonia, looking worried.

Aleena was about to answer when Jules got down on his knees and lightly tapped the grass.

"Here Sophia, c'mere, girl." said Jules in an all too friendly voice.

A green lump in the grass started moving toward him. He continued beckoning until it crawled right up to his hand and then he picked up the chao and handed it to Sonia.

"Sneaky little thing, you." chuckled Sonia, coddling her pet.

"Chao!" whined Sophia, her paws reaching out to Scourge.

"She's been playing with Manic the entire time. She really likes him." said Aleena.

"Well he is new, and he did make us all alot happier when he came back, so I can't really blame her." said Sonia, handing Sophia to Scourge.

He took the chao but looked as if he didn't know what to do with it.

"I was just playing with her, you don't have to give her away." said Scourge timidly.

"Oh, I wasn't. I just thought you weren't finished with her yet." replied Sonia.

Scourge's expression returned to normal.

"Oh, well I'm all done playing with her. I'm ready for whatever else is going on."

It was Jules' turn to look confused.

"Didn't have anything planned. Any ideas, Aleena?" he asked.

The momma hedgehog's face lit up.

"There was one thing I wanted to do the night we brought Manic back home, but I forgot all about it." she said.

"What was that?" asked Sonic.

"Come on inside to find out." challenged Aleena, getting up and walking toward the front door. "It's something we all use to play together."

They entered the house and Sonic and Sonia set down the backpacks they'd been carrying while Scourge took Sophia up to Sonia's room and put her back in her glass cage before coming back down to join the rest of the family who'd disappeared into the basement where the board games were stacked. Aleena pulled out a box that depicted men in red army costumes with wooden rifles in different combat poses. The title of the game was inscribed in big red letters: _RISK._

"You know I'm gonna wipe you guys off the map, literally." said Sonic, grinning ear to ear.

"Only if no one else is playing." retorted Jules.

"How do- err...remind me how this game works again." said Scourge, catching himself in time.

"Well, first you reinforce your army. For every three territories, you get one guy. Controlling an entire continent also gets you a bonus reinforcment. Then you attack nearby territories with 3 guys at a time. You can attack as many times as you want. After thats done, you can move guys from one teritory to the next, and every fight between two armies is determined by who can roll a bigger number with the dice. That's basically it." said Sonia, opening the box.

"That sounds easy." said Scourge.

(5 minutes later)

King Scourge of Australia placed three army pieces in one South American territory simultaneously, which meant three dice. Queen Sonia of South America was the defender, so she only had two dice, and quickly lost in a 9 to 5 roll, but quickly went on the attack and sent three armies of her own against King Scourge's invaders, but surprisingly, it was a tie as both dice wound up with the same number, and ties always mean that the defender wins, so for now, the King's armies had a well established beach head.

Queen Aleena, who controlled Europe, moved her armies east against Emperor Jules of Asia and took one of his territories, only to have it stolen back in the next turn.

President Sonic of North America sent two armies into Europe and beat Queen Aleena's troops by two dice points, establishing a foothold for American Forces in Britain.

"Oh the irony! XD" laughed Sonic.

Then, in an even moar ironic twist, Sonic's American Troops got kicked out of England, which made everyone laugh, except Scourge who didn't know what they were talking about, and since the Aussie King didn't like being left out of the loop, he moved his armies further into South America, but then Queen Sonia was able to successfully push him back, leaving Scourge where he'd started.

Feeling tyrannical, Emperor Jules moved his Asian armies into Africa since nobody else had claimed it yet. Queen Aleena moved her Euros south to claim parts of the continent for herself and for the next several turns, territories in that nation were continually gained, lost, and regained by both sides.

Meanwhile, President Sonic moved his armies against Asia, figuratively breaking down the Emperor's back door. Jules' forces were taken by surprise and fought hard, but their dice points came up short and resistance proved futile.

Seizing the opportunity, Queen Aleena also moved her forces against Asia, rolling over one territory and ready to attack another.

"Want to form an alliance?" whispered Queen Sonia.

"Let's do it." King Scourge whispered back.

With that, both the South American and Australian Armies moved upward toward North America with nothing to stand in their way (except maybe a border fence) and they quickly seized the East Coast. President Sonic, realizing foreigners were jumping the border without his permission, came down on the invaders with all the dice in his arsenal and (thankfully) drove them back out.

"No green cards for you. XD" laughed Sonic.

"I resent that." said Scourge, his fur color being green.

Everyone laughed again. Scourge could see why Aleena wanted to play this game the night he came home since it was so much fun. Maybe if they'd stayed up playing this for a while, he might not have had that nightmare about Robotnik...but on the other hand, if he hadn't had the nightmare, then he wouldn't have woken up in Aleena's arms. Thinking about it all made Scourge feel happy inside, though he wasn't sure how to express that kind of feeling since he still wasn't use to it, unlike anger and despair.

Getting back to the game, Scourge grew curious about it's real-life implications.

"Has any nation ever conqeuored the entire world?" he asked.

Everyone stopped playing as Jules explained:

"Well technically, no one nation has ever conquered every single territory. However, Britain at one point owned all the important nations and their influence stretched all around the globe, which is what a British Queen named Victoria meant when she said that the sun never set on the British Empire. They didn't control every nation, but they still ruled the world and no one could stand against them."

Scourge was wowed beyond words.

"Where is Britain located?" he asked.

Jules pointed to a large split island just off the coast of Europe, still under Aleena's control.

"It's right there. Your mom rules what was once the most powerful nation in the world." he said.

Aleena beamed with pride at the compliment.

"True, but I'm in charge of the nation that finally beat them." said Sonic, grinning.

That peaked Scourge's interest.

"Which nation beat the world's most powerful empire? 0_0" he asked.

"That would be the United States of America." said Sonic.

"400 years ago, Britain fell into corruption and tried to force everyone to follow a church that they controlled, so some of their own people fled across the ocean to America where they established a haven for those who wanted to escape persecution. But over the years, the British Empire gained control of America and the King eventually taxed Americans to the point of ruin, taking most of their money. The Americans didn't like this and said that they were no longer apart of the British Empire. The King felt threatened by this and he tried to subdue the separatists by force, and his soldiers took down many of the rebels, but there were so many armed citizens rebelling against the King that his soldiers were unable to defeat the rebels, so they retreated, and for the first time, armed subjects had beaten the king's forces." said Jules.

Scourge remained deep in thought for a moment before breaking his silence.

"Wait, what happened to America after that?" he asked.

"They stayed true to the values that helped them win their freedom and they became more powerful economically and militarily, but they never tried to take over any other nations. In fact, they mostly kept to themselves, but almost 70 years ago, some crazy guy got elected in Europe and did try to take over the entire world, so America and Britain fought side by side to stop him and after he was defeated, America was the only stable country left standing, so they brought aid to the other nations affected by war and rebuilt them for the most part, and America kept her soldiers stationed in those countries in case someone else tried to take over them, so by liberating other nations, America extended her influence to them, and now she influences the world to the point of ruling it and has brought peace to the nations she guards." said Jules.

This was all amazing news to Scourge who knew very little about history, given his lifelong confinement. He looked at America on the board map which Sonic controlled, and began to wonder where he currently was.

"Which nation are we in?" he asked.

"Guess." said Aleena.

"Britain?" asked Scourge.

"Nope." replied Jules.

"Australia?" asked Scourge.

"Close, but no." said Sonic.

_'Close? That must mean Asia,'_ thought Scourge. "Asia?"

"Guess again." said Aleena.

"Uhh...America?" asked Scourge, convinced that they couldn't possibly live in such an awesome place.

"Right there." said Sonia, pointing to the center of the North American continent.

This whole time he was living in the greatest nation on Earth and he didn't even know it. But if that were the case, what made his country so special?

"How is America different from all the other nations?" he asked.

"America is unique from all other nations because from the beginning, all of our laws have been based on Biblical principles. Other nations were built to become powerful, or to serve it's king, but America was made for people who wished to escape all that and breathe free. In other nations, your gender, family position, caste, and tribe determine where you go in life and what you do. The path is paved for you and you don't have much of a choice, even with marriage. In America we "write the script" of our life and can easily pave our own path and be whatever we want to be. Americans have control over their destiny, but only because this nation was founded on principles of freedom for all. If this nation abandons those morals that made it great, it will cease to be free," said Jules,

For a moment, Scourge was bewildered by those words. Who could possibly not want the freedom he was now enjoying?

But the more he thought about it, the more it made sense. Robotnik would not have taken away his freedom and kept him caged up like some unintelligent creature if he had thought there was something wrong with it. Obviously the man had no sense of right from wrong if he thought it was okay do something like that. Scourge knew the world was a messed up place, but after hearing what Jules had to say, he realized just how precious his freedom was when it could be taken away so easily. All that was needed for that to happen was for people to forget what was right and what wasn't.

Then another thought occured to him.

_Is it wrong to pretend to be someone who I am not?_

"I...have to go to the bathroom." said Scourge, getting up and leaving.

He didn't feel like playing with the family anymore.


	12. Lost, and Found Again

Scourge lay on his bed unable to take his mind off of what Jules had told him earlier.

_If this nation abandons those morals that made it great, it will cease to be free._

Those words may have sounded obscure to anyone else, but they meant everything to Scourge who had listened to Jules' explanation of them. He wasn't sure whether to feel inspired by his words or to feel guilty for living a lie. He finally understood what it meant to be loved, but at what cost? Must he continue to drag out Manic's identity just to live freely? How long would it be before he could live his own life and let Manic rest in peace?

_You must stay hidden so no one will know you are bad._

That was Robotnik's explanation for keeping him locked up in the basement his entire life. He now knew it was all a lie to keep him under the man's thumb, but how fair was it that Manic, who had a family who missed him, had to suffer and die at the hands of some crazed psycho like Robotnik while he, a loser with no one, not only walked free, but also got to have what was wrongfully taken from Manic?

_Why do I have to be a bad boy?_

On the other hand, what did he have as Scourge? What was left for him? More importantly, what was there to gain from revealing the truth? He was so conflicted inside that his head was starting to hurt. How long would he be able to keep the truth hidden?

Feeling exhausted just thinking about it, and needing to wash the day's grime off himself, he got up off the bed and went to the bathroom in his parents' bedroom since someone was using the one in the hallway, having entered it while he was in his room. The afternoon breeze coming in through the open window was a welcome change from the stifling dusty air of the basement he was so used to.

He turned the water on in the sink and splashed some on his face, which took away some of the exhaustion, as well as the sweat from working out. He also dunked his head under the faucet to wash the sweat out of his fur, not wanting it to go sticky again like it had been for so long. Afterward, he closed his eyes and let his head hang down as he leaned on the sink top, trying to clear his head.

Hard to believe it was actually happening, that he was here in a real house with a loving family, here and now.

The only sounds he heard besides his own breathing was from the calm breeze now caressing his face. It soothed him, yet he still felt chaotic inside.

Only two weeks ago, he was trapped in a psycho's basement dreaming about having all this, and now, here he was soaking it all in. While he'd already established that he wasn't dreaming, he still felt like he didn't deserve any of it. What happened to Manic wasn't his fault, and there was nothing he could do to bring him back, but he still couldn't help feeling like he didn't deserve this new family he'd been given.

He opened his eyes and thought someone was pulling the door shut, until he noticed the breeze from the window was making it close. Funny how how that happens, sometimes. Scourge then looked back at the mirror...and froze.

Past the blurred curtain, in the shower behind him, he could make out the shape of a large object...a red object.

The last thing he'd seen with that size and color was Robotnik's red shirt.

Scourge jerked the door open and jumped down the stairs, landing on the middle step where the staircase bent to the right, and quickly lost his balance and rolled down the rest of the way, the world around him twisting and turning as he fell.

When he finally hit the floor, he lay on his back in alot of pain he hadn't felt since...since the last time Robotnik had beaten him.

He looked back up at the open bathroom, waiting to see if there was someone inside, praying it had only been his imagination, but sure enough, he saw a shadow move on the bathroom wall.

That was all he needed to scramble to his feet and run out the front door, never looking back. He would never let Robotnik catch him. Even if he had to flee from his new family, he was never going back to that basement.

He avoided the other big houses and turned toward a nearby forest along the lake that led out of the neighborhood and ran as fast as he could to hide himself from the world and kept running until he was past the trees, his shoes still on his feet from when he first worked out, that morning.

"Manic!"

Even all the way out here, he heard his name beng called...no, he heard _Manic's_ name being called. He wasn't Manic, and it wouldn't matter anyway. Robotnik was probably telling them everything right now. It would be best to get away while he still could.

As he ran, however, his tumble down the stairs began to take its toll on him and he ached all over, until he could bear it no longer and slowed down and collapsed on the ground, feeling a numb blackness overtaking him.

(...)

When he opened his eyes again, he saw nothing but blackness all around him. Blackness, and strange claw like objects sticking out of the ground, like hands waiting to grab him if he got too close. He would have assumed he was dreaming, but after pinching himself and feeling the same brusises from before, it was clear as day that he was wide awake. Where he was, and how he'd gotten here was what escaped him.

He cautiously got up off the ground and looked around at this alien surrounding he was in, wondering if perhaps he was dead, given the cold he felt in the sunless environment, but upon closer inspection, he recognized the texture on the claw like structures and recognized them as things that the Hedge Family called _trees_. He'd been surrounded by them his entire life, out in a forest like this, but he'd never seen them because he'd been locked up in a stinking basement, being brought out only when Robotnik wanted to hurt him. Now here he was out in the forest again, but with no basement or house.

He wasn't sure if that was better or worse. On one hand, he was no longer a prisoner, but on the other, neither was he safe.

That last part became prophetic when he saw two eyes looking at him from the shadows. Two black orbs, like a doll's eyes, that reflected moon light. Scourge wasn't sure what he was seeing since the fur on the creature's face was mostly gray, but around the eyes, the fur was black, like it was wearing a black band over its gray face.

Scourge slowly backed away and heard a hissing noise coming from the animal. Cold fear shot through him as he had never encountered a wild creature like this before and had no way of knowing how dangerous it was, and right now, it didn't seem too happy to see him.

"Reawr!" it growled.

That was all Scourge could take, and he took off in the opposite direction, following the moonlight through the darkened forest, trying to find his way out of this death trap. He continued running, sure that the creature was upon him, but then the moon was completely hidden by the trees and he could not see where he was going and felt a lightning bolt shooting through his body as something slammed into him from the front side. He fell on his back and suddenly remembered all the times Robotnik had hit him, sometimes with the belt, other times with his fist, both to his face, and from behind. As his vision cleared and adjusted to the total darkness, he looked up to discover he'd run into a tree.

Slowly, he turned to look behind him and saw nothing. At least he'd lost the monster he'd encountered earlier, but that became the least of his worries when he became aware of all the wild noises around him. Strange chirps, barks, and growls all around him that made the animal he'd fled from seem like his imagination. From the confinements of Robotnik's basement, he'd heard those noises at night through a vent that led outside and didn't dare dream of escaping when the sun went down. Now he was out in a forest he was unfamiliar with, and completely at the mercy of whatever found him.

The weight of all this falling down on his mind, Scourge curled into a fetal position and closed his eyes, trying to shut out the world, but he couldn't escape the noises. More specifically, he couldn't escape the reminder that he was all alone in the world, once again.

The last time he'd been alone in a forest, he'd been stabbed.

Muffled sobs escaped his lips. All his efforts to escape the hell known as his life had led him right back to where he'd started. He couldn't go back now, he'd been lucky to escape a second time from Robotnik who'd been waiting for him in the shower. He just knew it had been him. He'd probably told the Hedges about his deceit, and for all he knew, they could be out looking for him so they could have at him, themselves.

His sobs soon gave way to tears and the fear and loneliness he'd felt in that basement came back to him. He'd thought he had a fighting chance by lying his way out of Robotnik's house, but it was all for nothing. He'd never felt so low in his life.

_Mnc_

His ears perked up at the sound. It was a person's voice but he couldn't understand what the person was saying. That changed when the voice got closer.

_Manic!_

It was Jules. He was out looking for him. He was also using the name _Manic_, so that must have meant Robotnik must have left the house without saying a word, or Jules didn't believe him.

The relief Scourge felt quickly turned back to fear when he realized how angry Jules must have been at him for running away.

_If you do not do as you are told, I will have to kill you..._

If Jules found him, he would have to kill him to be a good father. He couldn't let him turn into a bad boy, so it was only logical.

"Manic!" called out Jules.

Scourge could detect the anger in his voice and dreaded what he knew would happen if he were found, and stayed still, hoping that Jules would pass him by, but the voice got closer and closer. The green hedgehog crawled closer to the tree, hoping it would hide him.

"MANIC!" shouted Jules.

Scourge was certain he was just a few feet away. What were the chances he would get so close to him like this?

He could hear Jules walking right by him and curled up as tight as he could, hoping it would be enough to hide himself. He was shaking so much that he was afraid the older hedgehog would hear it.

Jules placed his hands around his mouth to amplify his voice.

"MANIC!"

Scourge whimpered in fear from the booming voice that made him feel even more powerless than before. Unfortunately for him, that whimper didn't go unnoticed.

"Manic?"

Scourge's eyes shot open to see Jules standing over him. The man who had once been one of his saviors would now be the one to finish him off in cold blood. The older hedgehog knelt down in front of Scourge and reached for him.

Scourge screamed in terror and swatted Jules' hand away, and got up and ran as fast as he could toward a moonlit part of the forest.

"Manic! Wait!" called out Jules, running after the young hedgie.

Scourge was running and sobbing through a black forest, not knowing where he was going, and not really caring if he hit another tree since he'd be free from this cruel world if he hit it hard enough, and sure enough, he did hit something. A root. The hedgehog stumbled and fell, rolling over and over until he came to a stop, hacking and coughing dust from his lungs, and his body covered in more bruises than ever. He was in so much pain that he no longer cared what Jules did to him. He just wanted to die and be free of this world.

Jules heard the green hedgehog's crying suddenly cease, as if the air had been knocked out of him. He continued running until he found the young hedgie lying on the ground coughing, and picked him up.

"Manic! What do you think you're doing?" he shouted.

The younger hedgehog just stared at him, shaking, his eyes filled with terror.

"Manic?" asked Jules.

The green hedge struggled to put his words together, but finally managed.

"I'm...I'm not...a...bad boy."

But upon finishing that last part of the sentence, Scourge burst into tears, sobbing bitterly. Jules was completely bewildered at this kind of behavior, but he wasn't naive about abuse trauma and knew that it had something to do with it, and wrapped his arms around his son, holding him as tight as he could while Scourge cried into his chest.

"It's alright, Manic. I won't let anything happen to you," assured Jules, holding his son protectively with one hand, and running his other hand through Scourge's quills.

Scourge's hands soon found their way around Jules' waist as the younger hedgehog pulled Jules closer to himself, not wanting to be let go. While he was afraid Jules would do to him what Robotnik had done, Robotnik had never held him like this. Robotnik only held him with his two hands, to keep a grip on him while he abused him, not to protect him like Jules had.

"I'm not bad," sobbed Scourge.

"I know you're not, Manic. But why did you run away?" asked Jules.

"I was in your bathroom...I saw...Robotnik behind me in the shower!" sniffed Scourge.

He could feel Jules tense up.

"You saw Robotnik?" he asked, his hands now on Scourge's shoulders.

"I saw his red shirt through the shower curtain," sobbed Scourge, wiping his nose.

Jules' eyes closed, as if he were disappointed.

"Manic...that wasn't Robotnik..."

Scourge went silent as he waited for Jules to continue.

"...that was a shower rack your mother placed in there, two years ago."

Scourge could not believe what he was hearing. He'd flipped out and ran away from his new home, not because Robotnik had found him, but because he'd seen some random object with red coloring and mistook it for Robotnik. All this over a misunderstanding? But what about the shadow he'd seen moving inside the bathroom? His mind flipped back to when he had been washing his face.

_He opened his eyes and thought someone was pulling the door shut, until he noticed the breeze from the window was making it close..._

_He looked back up at the open bathroom, waiting to see if there was someone inside, praying it had only been his imagination, but sure enough, he saw a shadow move on the bathrrom wall..._

That shadow must have been the door being pushed shut by the outside breeze as it came in through the window. That meant he'd made an idiot of himself for nothing...but it also meant he had nothing to fear from Robotnik.

"So...Robotnik wasn't there?" asked Scourge, feeling a bit better.

"We never saw him. I don't think he was ever there to begin with. And even if he had been there, in our bathroom, he'd be a bloody pulp by now. Your mother, brother, sister, and I all trained to fight, both with weapons and without them, so if Robotnik ever showed up, he wouldn't leave alive," said Jules, holding Scourge again.

Suddenly, Scourge wasn't as afraid as he had been before, but he still felt uneasy.

"Are...you mad...at me?" asked Scourge nervously.

Jules took a moment to choose his answer. He was angry that his son had run away and put his mother in a second emotional crisis, all because he had been in the wrong place at the wrong time...but he still needed to cut him some slack, considering the boy had been through the closest thing to hell a living mortal could experience and had five years of his life stolen from him. The fact that he was still sane was a miracle in and of itself.

"I'm only angry that we almost lost you a second time. We all thought you'd been taken, but somewhere, a voice told me to come out and look for you here, and sure enough, you were right where that voice told me to look," said Jules.

"Do you think it was God?" asked Scourge.

"There's not a doubt in my mind about that," replied Jules, holding Scourge again, "For years, we wondered where you were. We were so afraid that we would never see you again, but we prayed each day that you'd come back to us. We were all on edge, most of the time, fearing that any day we'd get the news that your remains had been found, but we continued to pray, and after nearly five years of waiting, we got the call that you'd been found and were alive and well. Although you gave your mother a real scare when you ran away this afternoon. We didn't know what had happened to you. We just heard the front door open and shut, and you were gone. I came out and looked for you for hours, but I never found a trace, and yet I kept looking, and only a few minutes ago, while I was out looking in this very forest, I heard God tell me to look over here in this spot...and there you were."

Hours...that was how long he'd been out. That was how long Jules had been looking for him. It brought tears of joy to his eyes to know the man cared for him enough to look for him like that, as opposed to a man who had forgotten about him when he wasn't using him for his own ends.

"When I ran from the bathroom, I fell down the stairs and after I ran into the forest, I started to feel the bruises and blacked out," said Scourge.

"You were unconscious this whole time?" asked Jules in shock.

"I think so. When I woke up, everything was dark and I didn't know where I was. It was like being back at Robotnik's house again, but without the house," murmured Scourge.

"And how long ago was that?" asked Jules.

"5 or 10 minutes ago," said Scourge.

"That was the time I heard that voice telling me where to look for you." said Jules, smiling down at Scourge.

This confused Scourge. If God could actually talk to Jules, then he had to be real, especially since that voice was right about where to look, but why hadn't it tattled on him, yet? How come it was letting him deliberately deceive the Hedges?

Then again, Jules did mention that they had prayed for their son to come home, while Scourge had prayed to be saved from Robotnik, but since Manic was dead, maybe God had taken a lost soul and given him a second chance by using him to fill the void left by Manic. Now that he thought about it, that did make sense. Perhaps he was doing the right thing by pretending to be their son. As long as he kept Manic alive in their minds, perhaps he wasn't really dead.

_Alright then, if it will help us both out, then from now on, I am Manic. _thought Scourge.

He did look like him, he could certainly act like him.

"Where are we, exactly?" asked Scourge, looking around.

"We're not that far into the woods. This is the place where you and Sonic would play hide and seek," replied Jules.

_That was convenient._

But then, out of the darkness came a familiar set of eyes. That black eyed monster he'd seen had caught up with him.

"W-what's that?" Scourge asked, pointing to the creature.

Jules turned to look at it.

"Oh that's just a wild Raccoon. He won't hurt you. Although, it could be a female guarding its babies," replied the older hedgehog.

So THAT's why it got so ticked off at him. It must have thought he was trying to harm its babies, much like he thought Robotnik had come to harm him.

"Well I'd like to go back home now. I hope mom isn't too angry," said Scourge, not really sure what an angry Aleena would look like, and not looking forward to it, either.

Both started walking back to the house with Jules leading Scourge by hand. He called Aleena on his cell phone and told her he found _Manic_ and was coming home with him. Then he turned to Scourge.

"I'll explain everything to her. From what you told me, it doesn't sound like it was your fault, though I will need to teach you how to defend yourself. I can teach you a few moves that will disarm anyone who attacks you," said Jules, still walking.

That was new to Scourge. He'd been counting on the Hedges standing up for him, but him being able to take out someone like Robotnik all by himself was a novel idea.

While they were walking, Scourge couldn't see anything, whereas Jules seemed to know exactly where he was going, taking a few turns, here and there, until Scourge could almost see a path in the dirt. They continued on until they made it out of the forest and Scourge could see their house up ahead.

They silently opened the front door and went into the living room where everyone was waiting. Aleena was in tears and seemed angry at first, but calmed down when she heard what had happened.

"I'm sorry I ran away, I honestly thought Robotnik came back for me," aplogized Scourge, hugging Aleena...no, hugging his mom.

"I thought he took you. We'll need to show you how to fight so you won't have to run," said Aleena, holding Scourge.

"I told him I'd teach him a few moves tomorrow," said Jules.

"We can help with that," offered Sonic, "Me and Sonia have been taking those karate classes, so we could teach him a few tricks, ourselves."

"Especially the Chuck Norris Roundhouse kick that dad showed us," smirked Sonia.

"Yeah, but it's already late. let's get to bed and worry about that tomorrow," suggested Jules.

Everyone nodded and went upstairs. Scourge took a shower and washed the dirt out of his fur and dried off and changed into the new shirt and shorts he'd brought into the bathroom with him, but when he came out, Aleena was waiting for him.

"Manic, I understand that you're still adapting to being back home, but always remember that you are strong and can overcome anything if you put your mind to it. If you keep running from your problems, you'll never be able to conquer them. That's apart of growing up," she said.

"I'm trying, but yeah, it's new being back. I missed you guys so much and I'm afraid of being taken away from you again," said Scourge, partially telling the truth, "I'm so used to Robotnik since I lived with him for a long time, but you and dad are so much nicer than he was. Even now I don't want to be away from you and dad."

A smile made its way onto Aleena's face.

"Would you like to sleep between me and Jules tonight?" she asked.

Scourge was a bit hesitant to answer. Robotnik had brought him to his bedroom numerous times, but it was for darker reasons. Of course, Scourge couldn't quite picture someone as angelic as Aleena being cruel like that to him, so he was unsure of whether to answer yes or no.

"Will Ju... will dad hurt me?" he asked.

"Oh no, he would never do that. I was just wondering if you wanted to sleep next to me? You don't have to," assured Aleena.

That made Scourge feel easier, although he still found the situation a bit awkward and it probably would be better to just go to bed in his own room, but he wasn't quite ready to be alone, and he had slept with Sonic and Sonia the previous night and nothing weird had happened, so he supposed his parents' room would be worth a try. Not to mention the Hedges were vastly different from Robotnik

"What the heck," shrugged Scourge, going into his parents' room with Aleena.

He couldn't believe how at ease he felt around this family, even in awkward situations.

He crawled under the covers and laid on his back in the middle of the mattress while Jules and Aleena laid down on either side of him and pulled the covers up over themselves and then turned off one of the lamps while leaving the other one on.

"Goodnight Manic," both parents said.

"Good night mom, goodnight dad," replied Scourge, settling into the soft mattress that seemed to absorb his back like a fluffy marshmallow.

He lay there between two parents who loved him to death and thought about how lucky he was to have them. How _blessed_ he was to have two parents who cared enough to do everything for him that they had, without demanding anything in return. Even now, they drifted off to sleep without making any attempts on him. It was such an awkward feeling, sleeping between two adults and not feeling any fear. In fact, he felt a familiar warm, fuzzy feeling floating through him.

He could only describe it as love. His new parents loved him and he was happy to admit he loved them, too.

Their boy may have been gone, but he would do his best to carry on Manic's legacy. For them. For the Hedges.


	13. Extended Family

**Howdy all. Now that the Halloween flashback story is finished, we can get on with Counterfeit Manic. Your support means more to me than words can convey. There's only a few chapters left in CM, so I'm gonna try to finish the ultimate family story by Thanksgiving, the ultimate family holiday (second only to Christmas). That said, let's get on with it.**

Scourge forked a full helping of bacon, scrambled eggs, and pancakes onto his plate. This was actually his second helping as he'd woken up with a ravenous appetite. The entire family went downstairs and made breakfast like they did two days earlier, though Scourge was definitely hungrier than the others since they all seemed satisfied with the first round of eggs, bacon, and large pancakes. Had they eaten anymore, they might have gagged or felt sick, but Scourge simply sliced off portions of his food, mouthed it, and washed it all down with milk. This might've seemed like alot to anyone else, but they couldn't blame him since he'd gone years without a whole meal, which made a second helping entirely understandable.

"Just don't make yourself sick," warned Sonia.

"I'm ok," replied Scourge, wiping his mouth.

"That's good, but you don't want to sit still and let it tun into fat, either," said Sonic, "We should probably get started on the weights downstairs."

"Not so fast," said Jules.

"right," replied Sonic, picking up his dishes.

Everyone placed their dishes in the dishwasher and Sonia and Sonic went down to the basement to begin working out.

"Hold on, Manic," said Aleena.

"What'd I forget?" asked Scourge, looking at the table.

"That's not it. We have something to talk to you about," said Jules.

That made Scourge nervous. They let Sonic and Sonia go so they could talk to him in private. Had they figured out his strange behavior from the previous night? Did they know who he really was?

"We wanted to let the rest of the family know that you're ok."

The rest of the family? How many relatives did Manic have?

"While you were still unconscious in the hospital, we called everyone else and told them that you had been found, but you still hadn't woken up," said Aleena, "We still haven't told them yet because we wanted you to have some time to readjust before they all started bugging you with questions."

"So are we going to go visit them?" asked Scourge, his curiosity peaked.

"No, they're all too far away. We'd have to do it by phone, and I think you should be the one to do it since they've all been waiting to hear from you again," replied Jules.

"I'll go get my phone," said Scourge, running upstairs to get his cell phone which was on his dresser, charging.

He detached it from the charger and ran back downstairs with it to find both parents sitting on the couch in the family room.

"Come sit with us while you call them," said Aleena, padding the couch with her hand while Jules placed a list of phone numbers on the coffee table in front of them.

Scourge sat between both adults and looked at the names next to the phone numbers, but one name in particular caught his eye.

_Skye_

"I think I'll dial Skye first," said Scourge.

Jules suddenly got a worried look on his face.

"Hold on, before you do, there's something we forgot to tell you," he said.

"What did we forget?" asked Aleena.

"There's something you need to know about Skye's parents, Mr. and Mrs. Sterin," said Jules.

"Oh yeah," said Aleena, remembering.

Obviously, they thought he knew them well since Manic probably did, so he had to act out the part.

"What happened to them?" asked Scourge.

Jules sighed heavily and paused for a moment before continuing.

"Two years ago, they were in their living room watching TV when they heard a noise outside their home. Skye's mom Juliana went to check what was going on outside and as soon as she opened the door, she was shot and killed. Harvey, Skye's dad, ran over to her to see if she was still alive, and was also shot," said Jules.

"And poor Skye saw the whole thing from the couch he was hiding behind," said Aleena, "The shooters came into the house to see if anyone else was there, but they never saw Skye since he was hiding behind the couch next to the door and left. Had they seen him, he'd be dead, too."

Now that sounded pretty tragic. Just a few days ago, Scourge found out what it was like to have parents that loved him, for the first time in his life, and now he found out that another kid that Manic knew had lost his own.

"What happened to the people who killed them?" asked Scourge, hoping they'd been swiftly and severely punished.

"They never found out who did it," replied Aleena.

"So someone murdered Skye's parents and got away with it? :O" asked Scourge, shocked beyond belief.

How could anyone possibly get away with that? It defied everything he knew to be right.

"The police are still looking for them. It's not over yet," replied Jules, "They'll be found eventually. And when they are, they'll get what they deserve."

Scourge sure hoped they were found soon, he could not wait for those monsters to suffer the same pain they inflicted on that poor kid. That being said, Skye probably needed someone to help him feel better, so he dialed Skye's number into his cell and heard the ear speaker ring twice. The third ring was cut off by a teenage voice similar to his own.

"Hello?"

"Would this be Skye?" he asked, making sure he had the right person.

"...Can I ask who this is?" replied Skye after a short pause.

"It's me...Manic," said Scourge.

"Manic? Oh my god...is it really you?" whispered Skye.

"Yeah, it's me. I'm back," replied Scourge.

"Manic. Oh My God! I can't believe you're home! I...I've missed you," choked Skye.

The emotion in Skye's voice made Scourge feel a bit awkward.

"...I missed you too, Skye...Have you been doing ok?"

"Yeah, I've been doing ok. You heard about my parents...right?" asked Skye.

"...Yeah...mom and dad told me. I'm so sorry to hear that," said Scourge.

"Don't be. It's not your fault. And, besides, I know they're in a better place now," replied Skye on the other end.

That gave Scourge some relief, but he needed to be sure.

"Have you been getting along ok since then?"

"Yeah. Being adopted into your family made me happy. I still miss them though...I think about them everyday. And...sometimes I cry when I think about them...It hurts...you know? I mean, I was already heartbroken because of you disappearing and all, and then that happened! It just...it broke me...on the inside...But, you know what?" Skye asked.

"What?" asked Scourge.

"God's been taking care of me. And, if it hadn't happened, my parents getting killed, then I probably never would have asked Jesus into my heart. He saved me. He held me through it all. Through all the heartache. Through all the pain. And He's still holding me. And, you know what else?"

"What?" asked Scourge, awkwardly.

"He held you, too. He was there for you. He kept you safe. You could've died while you were there, but you know what? You didn't! God held onto you, protected you! He kept you strong! And He helped you get home! And I thank Him for that. I'm so happy that God brought you home. I can't wait to see you again Manic! You need to come see me sometime, ok?" said Skye.

"Skye, pop tarts are ready!" called out a voice.

"Coming! Well, I better go. Rosy doesn't like it when I keep her waiting. I'll talk to you later, ok?" laughed Skye.

"Yeah, ok," said Scourge.

"Oh Yeah. And Manic?"

"Huh?"

"Don't lose sight of God. Keep your sights on him and He'll always lead you home. Ok?" asked Skye.

"Uh Huh. Ok. Later Skye," said Scourge.

"Skye, they're getting cold!" called Rosy.

"I'm coming! I'm coming!" replied Skye, "See Ya Manic! Love ya Cuz!"

Scourge pushed the red button, ending the call, and was at a loss for words. On one hand he was happy that he'd taken a load off the guy's mind and made his life easier, but on the other, what he said about God helping him didn't have the intended effect. After hearing that, he only became more aware that he was lying to cover up the fact that Manic never made it out. Skye had just told him all about how God was watching out for him and Manic, but he never knew what really happened.

_'He's a kid that I brought home, and I wanted to teach him to be good, but he never learned, so I had to kill him...'_

If God wasn't there for Manic, then why did he help Scourge? He was thankful to be out of that house, but the big man upstairs could have easily helped them both. And why'd Skye's parents have to go? This was such a nice family, so why'd that have to happen to them? It just didn't add up.

"Who should I call next?" he asked, trying to sound upbeat.

"Try your other cousin, Caity," replied Aleena.

Scourge dialed Caity's number, hoping it wouldn't be another awkward conversation on how God was there for a dead kid. The phone on the other end rang once before he heard a reply.

"Hello?" asked a smooth, mature sounding female voice.

"Is this Caity?" asked Manic.

Again, there was that pause, as if there was something unusual about his voice.

"...Who is this?" she asked.

"It's me, Manic, I'm back," lied Scourge.

"MANIC! OH MY GAWD! IS THAT REALLY YOU?" shouted Caity on the other end.

"Yeah, it is. I'm home," he said.

"Manic, I can't believe it! It's really you! I'm so glad you're ok! I've missed you sooo much! Everyone's been worried about you! OMG! You Have To Come Down Here And See Us! You Know That, Right? Everyone's going to be sooo happy to have you back! It'll be great," said Caity, breathlessly.

"Uhh...how far away are you guys, again?" asked Scourge, hoping she wouldn't know.

"You don't remember?" she asked, clearly shocked.

"I was told that I'd been gone for five years. Sorry if I don't recall everything clearly," replied Scourge sarcastically, hoping that was good cover.

"I guess anyone would forget some things if they'd been gone that long. We live on South Island, near Hawaii. Remember? But you can fly on over here and see us. We'll even pay for the plane ride," said Caity happily.

Now Scourge was feeling a bit guilty. All that just for him?

"...sure, I guess," he said.

"Are you ok?" asked Caity.

"Yeah, I just can't believe I'm really home...and hearing your voice again," lied Scourge, feeling worse for decieving her.

"Manic...I really am glad you're home," said Caity, "I've really missed seeing your smiling face. I truly am glad you're home."

For a moment, Scourge was too choked up to say anything. He'd never heard anyone say that to him, before, and for a moment, he felt content...until he remembered that he wasn't Manic.

_But as long as they think I am Manic, what difference does it make? As long as I keep the act going, I basically am Manic._

"It's good to be home again," he said, at last, "How's everyone else doing?

"They're doing ok. Bobby's REALLY grown since you've last seen him," replied Caity, "Match kept saying you'd come back. And Skye…did your parents tell you, yet?"

"Yeah."

"Well, He's still trying to adjust...I mean, he's doing better now than right after it happened. He was so distraught about it that he wouldn't speak to anyone. Even me. It took me a long time to get him out of the shell he had encased himself into," sighed Caity, "It's hard...ya know...losing someone like that...That's why I'm so glad you're back. It was really hard on all of us when you disappeared."

"Sorry about that," said Scourge.

"That's ok. You're home now and that's all that matters," giggled Caity, "Like I said before, I really have missed you."

"I missed you, too," replied Scourge. This time, he really meant it, as he now felt a longing inside himself for that kind of family love.

"Well take care, and promise you'll come see us soon," said Caity.

"I will soon," promised Scourge.

"Alright then, bye."

"Bye."

Scourge ended the call.

"So are we gonna visit them soon?" he asked.

"Maybe. You'll just have to wait and see, ;)" winked Aleena.

That meant it was a surprise.

Scourge looked back at the list and noticed another name that seemed peculiar. _Ashura_. He dialed the number and waited for a response.

"Hello?" asked what sounded like a man in his mid 20s.

He also sounded like he'd just woken up, as it was still an hour till mid-day.

"Is this Ashura?" asked Scourge.

"The one and only," replied Ash flatly, "What do you want?"

He definitely wasn't in a good mood, which made Scourge uneasy.

"It's Manic, I'm back," lied Scourge, a third time.

After a moment, Ash finally responded: "Cosmic, I'm not in the mood right now."

Cosmic? That was one of the names on the list of relatives, so it must've been Ashura's brother.

"No really, it's Manic," said Scourge, hoping it would convince the man on the other end.

"...This really is Manic?" asked Ashura, his voice more serious.

"Yes, Ash, it is our son, Manic," said Jules into Scourge's cell phone.

For a moment, Ashura said nothing, and all Manic heard was shaky breathing, like he was too shocked to say anything. But finally, Ashura replied "You're alive?...how'd you survive for so long?"

Ash's response was totally different from Skye's and Caity's. They were overjoyed to hear what they believed to be Manic, whereas Ashura had trouble even believing it was him. He was getting too close to the truth.

"Robotnik...that man who took me got in a car accident, and his nephew stabbed me and left the house, so I called the cops and they got me," said Scourge.

All he heard was a dull thud.

"Ashura?" said Scourge.

Nothing.

"He's not saying anything," said Scourge to Aleena.

Did Ashura know he wasn't Manic?

"All I heard was a thud."

Both parents let out a hearty laugh.

"He probably passed out. The same thing happened to your Aunt Bernadette when we told her you'd been found," replied Jules.

"I'll just let him call me back," said Scourge, ending the call.

He then called Manic's other cousins, Match, Bobby, Cosmic, and Sunny, who were all just as overjoyed and excited as Caity had been. Then he called Manic's grandparents; Grampa Olgilvie and Gramma Jenny from Jules' side of the family, and Grampa Maurice and Gramma Hanna from Aleena's side. While they didn't go crazy like the kids had, they were so happy to hear what they believed to be Manic that they all cried tears of joy. After 5 years of wondering if he was even alive, they could finally hear their grandson's voice again and know he was safe. At least that was what they thought, but as long as they were happy, what difference did it make?

He then called Jules' brother, Uncle Chuck, who, unlike the grandparents, actually did whoop with excitement like the kids. Jules then talked to him through the phone and when Chuck mentioned he wasn't that far away, Jules invited him over.

Scourge was about to call Aunt Bernadette next, but then his phone rang and he checked the number. It was Ashura's. He must have woken back up. Scourge answered the phone.

"Hello?" he asked.

"Manic?" asked Ashura.

"Yes?" replied Scourge.

"I uh...I'm so glad you're back...what happened to you?" asked Ash.

He sounded like he'd been crying. Even so, Scourge still felt uncomfortable telling his "cousin" about his experiences.

"...I don't really want to talk about it."

Ashura let out his breath he'd been holding, as if his worst fears had been confirmed.

"Are you alright? You haven't had any bad nightmares, have you?" asked Ashura, clearly worried.

"I did three nights ago, but I'm ok now," replied Scourge.

"...Well at least you're recovering some," said Ashura, "You said his nephew stabbed you?"

"Yeah, that was Snively, but he's gone now," said Scourge.

"Is it alright if I ask your parents something?" asked Ashura.

"I guess so," said Scourge handing the phone to Jules.

"Hello?" asked Jules.

"Mr. Hedge, have the police caught Snively, the guy who stabbed Manic?" asked Ashura.

"Not yet, but they're out looking for him. Manic gave the cops a pretty good description of the guy shortly after he woke up a few days ago, so they'll have him in no time," replied Jules.

"Don't let Manic out of your sight for a moment!" said Ashura, "Until Snively's been caught and put away, guard Manic with your life!"

"Ashura, this is his dad you're talking to. I think protecting him has been very well established. Besides, what do you think I got that 45 pistol for?" asked Jules.

"Sorry, my emotions are so jumbled up that I can't even think straight," said Ash, "Can I talk to Manic again?"

"No problem," replied Jules, handing the phone back to Scourge.

"Hello?" asked Scourge.

"Manic, your brother and sister have been taking karate classes. You should learn their moves in case you run into more trouble," said Ashura.

"Alright, I'll do that," said Scourge, "Are you ok? You don't sound too good."

"I looked everywhere for you while you were gone. I was convinced you were dead, but then I heard you'd been found, and now I'm hearing your voice again. It was so shocking to hear you'd been found that at first, I didn't believe it. Even now, I'm having trouble believing that the person I'm talking to is really you, but at least it's finally sinking in, and I can start living again. I think we all can, now," replied Ashura.

Hearing this, Scourge realized that pretending to be Manic to end the Hedge family's pain wasn't just an act of kindness, it was the only thing keeping them from falling apart, making it absolutely vital to safeguard his real identity. Losing Manic nearly destroyed them, they wouldn't be able to take that kind of shock a second time.

"I'm back, so you don't have to worry," said Scourge, "In fact, we might even be coming to visit soon, though I'm not sure when."

"Well I look forward to seeing you again," said Ash. "Take care, cuz."

"I will. Bye," said Scourge.

"Later," replied Ashura.

He ended the call feeling a bit better, now that Ashura seemed convinced, but now he had a mission to keep the facade going for as long as possible because the whole family depended on it. Manic was in a better place, so it wasn't like he would come back at an awkard moment, and so far, Scourge was doing a heck of a job convincing everyone that he was Manic. After all, he had the same eyes, same fur color, and even a similar voice, and he and Manic had both been trapped in Robotnik's house for a long time, so him not remembering things was to be expected. The circumstances of the whole thing were perfect. It truly was a miracle. Scourge called the rest of Manic's extended family and basked in the joy they expressed at hearing his voice. Obviously, they were talking about Manic, but as long as they thought he was Manic, their praise seemed genuine, which gave Scourge the confidence to continue living his new life.

After that was over, Scourge asked Jules if he could take karate lessons, too.

"Oh you will, but I'd like to see you build up some muscle first since you are pretty thin," replied the older man.

"Guess you'd better join Sonic and Sonia downstairs, :)" said Aleena.

Scourge got up to go workout on the lower level of the house, but suddenly noticed how thirsty he was from all that talking on the phone. During the time spent in Robotnik's basement, there was no need for talking since he had always been alone.

As he got a cup out of the cabinet and went to the fridge, he couldn't help wondering: where was Manic during all this? Robotnik had specifically mentioned bringing Manic to that house and later killing him, but according to the Hedges, that happened 5 years ago, whereas Scourge had been there his whole life after Robotnik found him on the streets as a baby. And yet, he had no recollection of anyone else in that cold, dark basement.

Scourge poured himself some grape juice as he pondered all this.

Of course, he did remember hearing a child screaming on the floor above him a few times, so that might've been Manic. Robotnik never said he kept him in the basement, so he could have kept Manic up in his room.

He forced those thoughts from his head as he greedily downed the heavenly purple substance in the glass he was holding. After washing the cup out in the sink and putting it back where he found it, he went toward the new basement to work out and become stronger, unlike Robotnik's basement where he'd been weak his entire life.

He tried to ponder the irony of that, but for some reason, all he could think about was how good that grape juice was.


	14. Memories of Giving Thanks

**Happy Thanksgiving, homies. Again, I wanted to fit in a holiday theme, but it's still July in CM, so I had to use a flashback device for this one, so I hope you enjoy. =D**

"...Fourteen...fifteen..."

Scourge pushed himself off the floor, lowered himself back down, and repeated the process.

"...Sixteen...seventeen..."

Just a little bit further and he'd beat his own record

"...Eighteen..."

His arms strained to push himself upward. Lowering himself back down without actually touching the floor was even harder, for some reason.

"...Nineteen..."

He pushed himself upward and lowered himself down for the final time, and then pushed up again.

"Twenty!"

That was twenty push-ups. He'd outdone his last attempt.

"Awesome sauce!" congratulated Sonia, helping Scourge up and giving him a big hug.

Scourge couldn't help liking her for her support. If there was one thing she was good at, it was adding enthusiasm to everything.

"Now let's do crunches," she continued, laying down on her back.

Scourge got down beside her and imitated the curl ups that she did and made it to 20 before his abs gave out. He exhaled sharply from relief after letting himself relax.

"Feeling the burn?" asked Sonic, who was lifting barbells.

"Like you wouldn't believe," replied Scourge, patting his stomach, "Are there any moves you can show me right now?"

Sonic got up.

"There is one I know you can handle," he said, walking over to the plastic mat at the other end of the basement, "Come at me as if you are going to stab me."

Scourge walked over to Sonic and pretended to be holding a knife and took a stab at him like he imagined Snively would have, but the blue hedgehog grabbed his hand and twisted it slightly.

"ACK! What does that do?" asked Scourge.

"Exactly what you think it does. A hand holding a knife cannot hang on to it if it's being twisted," replied Sonic.

"Alright, but what happens afterward?" asked the green hedgehog.

Now it was Sonia's turn to show him a move.

"Well, if you're still holding on to the person's arm, you can punch the creep in the face with your other hand," said Sonia, "But if they're trying to do the same to you, then you can grab their other hand and hit their face with the top of your head...like this."

She picked up a pillow and head butted it as if it were Robotnik.

"Now twist the imaginary knife out of my hand and grab my other one before I hit you with it," said Sonia.

Sonic leaned against the wall and folded his arms as he watched the entire thing with a smirk on his face.

(...)

An hour later, all three hedgies emerged from the basment exhausted and dehydrated, especially Scourge who wasn't used to such strenuous workouts. Sonic walked over to the couch in the family room and collapsed onto it.

"Martha, get me a beer and a thandwich," said Sonic in a lispy voice which made Scourge laugh.

He was quite the comedian.

Sonia and Scourge went over to the fridge to get some moar grape juice out, not noticing the figure that silently entered the kitchen and quickly, but carefully approached the couch where Sonic lay, eyes closed. He then extended his hand toward the blue hedgehog and grabbed the boy's shoulder.

"HEY SONIC!"

Sonic's eyes shot open as he attempted to get up off the sofa, but he was so disoriented that he only succeeded in rolling onto the floor.

Even comedians can sometimes be the victims of jokes.

Upon hearing the man say Sonic's name out loud, Scourge and Sonia whirled around to see an older hedgehog that looked similar to their dad, albeit older, standing over Sonic laughing heartily.

"Still think you're the funniest thing alive, mah boi?" hooted the older hedgehog.

"You're the only one laughing, Uncle Chuckle," shot back Sonic as he got up and put his arms around his Uncle.

Sonia ran up to him and did the same.

_Oh yeah, I remember Uncle Chuck saying he'd be right over. So THIS is what he looks like._ thought Scourge, _Almost exactly like I pictured him._

Uncle Chuck's gaze shifted toward Scourge and life seemed to return to his face.

"My God it really is you," he said, walking over to Scourge and bear hugging him, "You haven't changed at all."

_So even Uncle Chuck thinks I'm Manic...I wonder if we were related?_ wondered Scourge, hugging Chuck.

"I understand you've been through alot, but it takes alot off my shoulders knowing you're safe," said the aging Hedgehog, cracking a smile, "By the way, where's your parents?"

Before he could answer, a gloved hand grabbed Chuck's shoulder. The old man was whirled around and found himself face to face with a familiar looking hockey mask.

"HIYA CHUCK!" shouted Jules in his old Jason Vorhees costume.

Chuck didn't jump, but he was wide eyed.

"That never gets old, XD" hooted Jules, taking the mask off.

"Well I do, so please go easy on me," warned Chuck.

"Are you saying you don't like surprises, bro-in-law?" chuck-led Aleena (yeah, I know, that was lame).

"Only when they're unpleasant," replied Chuck, "and speaking of surprises, I brought something with me that I thought Manic might remember."

_Oh boy, better act like I remember whatever it is_. Thought Scourge.

Uncle Chuck produced a camcorder from his pocket.

"Do you remember the Thanksgiving dinner we had at the Sterins' house, back in 2003?" asked Chuck.

"Wasn't that the same year that Caity and Ashura came over with their brothers and sisters for Halloween?" asked Sonic.

"I think so. I was only 5 back then, so I don't remember a whole lot about that," said Sonia.

"Well I do remember you playing pin the tail while you were blindfolded and you went the wrong way and pinned the tail on the wall, XD" laughed Sonic.

"Wasn't I dressed like Belle from Beauty and the Beast?" asked Sonia.

"You looked so cute in that dress, ^^" complimented Aleena, remembering that time.

"That big, _poofy_ dress, 0_0" corrected Sonic.

"Don't even start!" warned Sonia.

"Well like you said, you were only 5, and to be honest, it was a better choice than what most of the other kids were wearing," said Sonic.

Scourge spoke up.

"Didn't Uncle Chuck have something to show us?"

Everyone turned to look back at Chuck who seemed amused at the whole thing.

"Brings back memories of me and your dad when we would argue. But anyway, why don't we hook this up to the TV," he said, walking over to the family flatscreen.

He pulled out some white and yellow wires from the same pocket and and used them to connect the camcorder to the flatscreen TV while everyone sat down. He then pressed a few buttons and Scourge saw what looked like people wearing costumes, all going around the house fixing things up.

"Whoops, this must've been when Jules borrowed my camera to tape the party while you kids were out," said Chuck.

"Hold on, I'd like to see it," said Scourge, curious about the Hedge's relatives and knowing this would be a good opportunity to familiarize himself with them.

"Alright," replied Chuck, leaving the camcorder.

The person holding the camera watched what looked like Chuck and some smaller kids, including Sonic dressed up like a soldier, and Sonia dressed as Princess Belle, walking down the street to trick or treat, and then shifted focus to a second group which consisted of a terminator, a fireman, an asian princess, and a certain green hedgehog dressed as a cop.

_"And they're off," _said the cameraman, which sounded a lot like Jules.

The camera then went back inside the house to reveal all the adults laughing like they'd just played a big joke on someone.

_"Now that they're out of our hair, let's PARTAY!" _declared a blue hedgehog dressed like a vampiress, her fist raised.

":O You guys had a party without us!" said Sonic. "And all this time we never even knew it."

"You mean you never figured out why half the tin foil wrapped platters were gone by the time you got back?" laughed Aleena.

""You decievers!" shouted Sonia.

"Can we watch this?" asked Scourge, wanting to absorb as much detail about this family as he could.

Everyone else quieted down, thinking it was a case of nostalgia.

The camera went from room to room looking at everyone as they messed around, snacking, talking, and joking. Then it stopped at a white hedgehog wearing a werewolf costume, minus the mask.

_"So then I actually walked up to the drive thru at Mickey Dee's and they asked me what I wanted, even though I wasn't in a car, so I just said "Milkshaaake" and they were like "What else would you-" and again I said "Milkshaaake," _said the werehog.

Scourge was curious about who the joker was, but he knew it would look suspiscious if he didn't at least recognize him upon seeing him "again" so he simply asked "Isn't that…" as if he partially recognized the guy.

"Harvey Sterin, Skye's dad," replied Sonic.

It worked like a charm.

The camera then changed to an image of a big bonfire in a yard. It was now dark, so the quality wasn't as good, but Scourge could make out a mountain sized leaf pile that had recently been lit and everyone was coming over to it with marshmallows on sticks. It sure looked like fun, but then the camera moved over to two green hedgehogs, the taller one dressed in leather and the shorter one dressed like a cop, and Scourge heard Jules ask _"Where were you guys?"_ and the cop hog, replied _"Oh, Ashura showed me this move so I could…defend myself." _Scourge felt a sense of dread as he watched the dead boy he was impersonating. The way he looked at him from the screen, as if he could see him. Part of him was tempted to hide himself from the young boy who was supposed to be dead, but before he could make a decision, the screen switched to an image of…the Hedge house.

"Here we are," said Chuck, pleased that they'd finally made it to the whole reason for him bringing the camcorder.

Scourge watched the camera going down the back stairs overlooking the large family room where a large Christmas tree had already been placed at the foot of the stairs that the camera person was walking down, and then turned toward the kitchen where everyone was preparing food. Skye and Sonic were helping Harvey make noodles, Julian and Sonia were pulling baked goodies out of the oven, and Manic was getting some things out of the pantry for Aleena. Scourge then saw Jules come out of the bathroom and he turned toward the camera man and said _"Chuck, would you mind helping me out with the turkey?"_ and the camera switched over to the couches where Harvey was sitting with some guests, presumably after the food had been prepared, and he was talking about dodgeball: _"And then the coach joined us and threw this big red ball at Kathryn and he must've thrown it pretty hard because it got deformed in midair."_ That was when the guests around him started laughing, including the camera man, who sounded unfamiliar, this time. Harvey then continued: _"It hit her in the face and now she's on the ground and the coach ran up to her and said YEAH! IN YOUR FACE!" _which made everyone watching laugh, too. Even Scourge chuckled.

Then Scourge saw Manic enter the camera's view and could just barely hear him telling the guests that dad told him to tell everyone that the food was ready, to which Harvey replied "Cool beans…no pun intended" and then everyone followed little Manic into the dining room where dozens of Mobians and a few humans were seated.

"When the family can't make it, invite the neighbors," chuckled Chuck.

"We always did host good Thanksgivings," said Aleena.

"Only because you made such awesome food! :)" gushed Jules.

"I beg to differ!" said Sonic.

"Well no one cares what you think! X3" shot back Aleena defensively.

The camera then showed everyone sitting at the table and everyone bowed their heads while Manic was the one to give thanks for the Thanksgiving Feast: _"Thank you for the food you have given us and bless the family that prepared it and may they continue to receive the kind of happiness they have given me..."_

"...Amen." Finished Scourge.

That voice, it sounded so much like his own. This time, Scourge did leave the room.


	15. Ultimatum

**Only a few more chapters to go. I plan to have this thing done by Christmas, so brace yourselves, this chapter is a bit different from the other ones. O.O**

Scourge locked himself in the bathroom and stared at the person in the mirror, trying to figure it all out.

_What are you?_ he wondered. _How can you have so many similarities to Manic and not be him?_

It just didn't add up. Scourge knew he had enough in common with Manic to imitate him, but after comparing the video footage of the dead boy to his own reflection, he realized he wasn't just similar to Manic, he was a carbon copy of him, not just with the way he looked, but with the way he sounded. He looked and sounded like Manic. As he stared at his own reflection, he couldn't help feeling like he was living in someone else's body.

"What...am I?" he asked himself.

The Hedges believed God created everyone for a specific purpose, and he had little reason to doubt the existence of a divine being, given the life changing miracles he'd experienced in the past few weeks, but what was his purpose? Why would God make him look exactly like someone else, especially when that person was now dead?

Then he remembered something Robotnik had once told him,

_Don't whine to me, alley trash. I picked you up off the street when no one else wanted you and took you in. If anything, you should be thanking me._

So he got him off the streets when he was really young, long before he got Scourge, yet he looked just like Scourge...was it possible that he and Manic were related? Could they have been twins that got separated at a young age? If so, that would explain why he was practically wearing Manic.

He'd have to ask Aleena and Jules about that.

He flushed the toilet so they'd think it was a routine bathroom trip and returned to the family room.

"You ok?" asked Jules.

"Yeah, just had to go to the bathroom," replied Scourge, sitting down.

They continued watching camera footage for another five minutes before reaching the end. After they were done, Chuck brought something else out of his pocket: It was a gold piece with a pin behind it.

"I wanted to give this to you on your thirteenth birthday, Manic," said Chuck, "You always wanted to be a Policeman, so I thought it appropriate to get you your own metallic badge for your 13th birthday so you wouldn't have to use those plastic ones anymore. I know you're a little old to be playing cops, but I thought you might like this anyway."

Scourge took the badge and had to admire its gold plating, as well as the designs it had on it, such as the Eagle on the top, and a pair of olive branches lining the lower half. And then there was the police insignia in the center. All very intricately designed to make a unique metal symbol for one willing to put their very lives on the line to protect the innocent.

"I know it's not a whole lot, but I hope it will be a spark of inspiration to you to live your life to its fullest, regardless of what has happened. I don't know what God has planned for you, but something tells me that badge will come in handy before too long," continued Chuck.

Somehow, those words touched him in a way he hadn't felt before. He bear hugged Chuck as tight as he could. He remembered how he almost died at Robotnik's place, but the police were able to find him and brought him to the hospital. They were the ones he had called and they came for him. They also had Robotnik in custody and would soon nab Snively. It was because of men and women like Uncle Chuck that he was safe. And now his cop Uncle continued to support him.

It was all too much.

"Thank you, Uncle Chuck," said Scourge.

Despite Scourge faking his identity and technically being a criminal, he had no fear of his Uncle. He knew the man was there to protect him. Either that, or he just trusted Cops since they helped him once.

"Hey no problem, I just don't want to see you alive on the outside while being dead on the inside, like so many other abuse victims I've seen," said the aging Hedgehog.

"Don't worry, we'll take good care of him," said Sonic.

"The kids are doing an impressive job whipping their brother into shape down in our own gym," winked Jules to his older brother.

"Well one can never be too careful. I just can't believe it's actually Manic. With how miraculous his discovery and near death experience was, I had a hard time believing it was the same Manic, but now I've seen him with my own eyes," smiled Chuck.

That reminded Scourge of the question he wanted to ask Jules and Aleena, but it would have to wait. He'd need it to be as private as possible.

"But I need to get going. I pinched my schedule just coming here," said Chuck, looking at his watch.

"Come over again soon," said Scourge.

"It's too bad you're leaving, I was having fun pranking you," laughed Jules.

"Some things never change," sighed Chuck, putting on his police hat.

All three younger hedgehogs ran up and hugged him, followed by Chuck's brother and his sister-in-law.

"I don't mean to tell you guys how to run your own lives, but if I were you, I'd take Manic to see a certain film that recently came out," whispered Chuck to the two parents, slipping them 5 movie tickets, just out of view of the kids.

"Sure thing, bro. And thanks again," thanked Jules.

"Anytime. I'm just glad to have seen Manic again. It takes a huge load off my shoulders knowing he'll be ok," replied Chuck, heading out the door.

He drove away while the kids waved goodbye, shouting "Love you, Chuck" and Jules decided to show them the extra present Chuck had left behind.

"Your Uncle left us some tickets to go see Toy Story 3. Would you guys like to do that?" asked Aleena.

"Would we? 8D" said Sonic and Sonia in unison.

They ran back inside and changed from their workout clothes to their regular jeans and tees for going out. Seeing this as necessary etiquette, Scourge quickly did the same. It felt good to have fresh, new clothes of his own...only to find out that they wouldn't be leaving for another ten minutes since the movie didn't start until 2:30. So they just did whatever for another five minutes before piling into the family car and leaving.

"Why are we leaving five minutes early?" asked Sonia.

"I thought we'd pick up some goodies before we got to the theater. The snacks there are overpriced," replied their dad.

They stopped at a gas station and they all went inside to pick out some candy of their own to have in the theater when they got there. Scourge wasn't quite sure what to pick out...until his eyes rested on a long, slender bar with a yellow wrapper with the name printed on the front in blue letters: Butterfinger. He didn't know why, but something about it just seemed to appeal to him, almost as if he could taste it right now, so he grabbed it off the rack, but as he walked toward the register where the rest of the family waited, he noticed something else on another section of the shelf: a bag of cheetos. That also seemed to stand out from the other snacks for reasons Scourge couldn't explain, so he got that off the shelf, too, hoping they'd let him get two snacks, and brought them to his parents.

"Is it alright if I get two? I'm kinda starving," he chuckled nervously.

"Yeah, I guess so," said Jules nonchalantly as he put both items on the countertop.

Scourge quietly let out a sigh of relief. Asking for more than he was permitted took a lot of courage, as he'd feared being beaten for being too greedy, as Robotnik had done to him whenever he asked for more food. But on the other hand, that was probably why they'd let him get an extra snack while everyone else got one: because he'd been starved for so long. And he really, really wanted those cheetos and that butterfinger, but why he wanted them so badly, he did not know. He wasn't kidding when he said he was hungry, but why he preferred the butterfinger and cheetos was comepletely beyond him. Just one of those things he did, but couldn't remember the reason for doing so.

They all left the gas station with their goodies and climbed back in the car and drove to the theater. They bought popcorn since it was an old movie tradition they followed, but kept their own snacks in their pockets to avoid any trouble. They took them back out once they were seated, though, and Scourge's stomach was growling by that time. He couldn't decide which to have first, the cheetos or the Butterfinger, so he took a bite of his chocolate/peanut butter bar and stuffed in a few cheetos to go with it. He still wasn't sure why he picked those out at the gas station, but he was glad he did.

Munch-munch-munch-munch-munch-munch-munch-munch

The mixture of cheese and chocolatey peanut butter was so perfect that he got lost in his own fantasy world of sweet, salty crunchiness. A sensation to his taste buds that he'd never experienced before.

Then the movie started. Scourge wasn't familiar with the concept of toys coming to life, but the story was still impressive. Toys who feel they are no longer needed wind up with new owners who abuse them. Everyone apparently saw their pain as humorous, but Scourge wasn't quite sure how to react. Sure the stuff on the screen was funny, but it brought back so many unwanted memories of similar things being done to him. Then he got a sense of dread when he learned that one toy, a bear named "Lotso" got lost and came back home, only to discover that he'd been replaced with a copy of himself. Exactly what He was doing to Manic.

All of a sudden, he wasn't so sure about pretending to be him, even if it was to spare the Hedges grief.

"I gotta go to the bathroom," whispered Scourge.

"Okay," said Jules, shifting his legs to let Scourge out of the aisle.

The green hedgehog exited the screen room and went to the men's room. Upon entering it, he saw someone using the urinal, but turned his gaze away before he could see who it was, waiting for him to finish before using one himself since he did have to go. He stared at his own reflection for the second time that day. It just seemed too convenient that he was wearing Manic's face and using his voice. He hoped that his theory of them being twins separated at birth was true. He didn't want to be a user possibly turning a living boy against his own family, on the thin assumption that Manic may have possibly escaped like he did. Robotnik could have just as easily lied about killing Manic to intimidate him. He was surprised that he hadn't thought of that earlier.

But before he could ponder it further, the man who'd been using the urinal grabbed him from behind and pressed something cold and sharp against his neck.

"So, I see little Manic made it back to his family," the person whispered sarcastically.

All the healing and joys that Scourge had experienced over the past week, all the security and confidence in himself that he'd developed vanished upon hearing that voice he never thought he'd have to hear again.

_Snively_.

"Or was someone fibbing?" continued the bald, sickly man.

Scourge stood frozen, not knowing what to do or say. One wrong move, and his throat would get the same treatment his chest once did.

"Yeah, just keep your mouth shut like a good little boy...like you always did," cackled the sickly man.

This couldn't continue, he had to say something.

"Why do you want to kill me? I haven't done anything to you," Scourge whispered, hoping someone else would enter the bathroom.

"Au Contraire, my little furball, you ratted me out to the Po-Pos and now I can't even show my face anywhere during the day," hissed Snively, tightening the blade against Scourge's neck, "I should have finished the job when I had the chance. Maybe then they would have pinned it on lard breath."

Scourge exhaled slowly to bring his breathing under control.

"Yeah, I talked. That means that if you kill me now, they'll know it was you," he whispered defensively.

An awkward silence followed that seemed to last for an eternity before Snively finally broke it.

"As much as I hate to admit it, you're right."

Scourge breathed another sigh of relief.

"However," continued Snively, "By spilling the beans to the pigs, you ruined my life, so you gotta pay."

_YOUR life was ruined? At least you had one._ thought Scourge.

"Now you on the other hand, you got something good going. You convinced a family who lost their boy that you _were_ that lost boy they'd been searching for all these years, and in return, you got a nice crib to stay in, all the food you could eat, and a family that loved you, even if it was for the wrong reasons...namely lying to them that you were their dead son," said Snively.

Hearing it from that kind of perspective, Scourge felt horrible knowing that he had no defense against such accusations.

"And yeah, it was deceptive and inhuman, but pure genius," laughed Snively, "I never would have thought to pull off something as clever as that in my whole lifetime. I guess boredom isn't the only thing that breeds creativity. Desparation just got added to that list. But since you got what you want and I still need to survive, I'll make a deal with you."

Scourge began to feel a bit of hope.

"You go back home with that new family you love so much, and get me some of their valuables," whispered Snively, "I mean surely they must have something worth alot in that freakin huge mansion of their's. You get me something I can pawn- whenever I demand it- and your secret remains safe with me."

Upon realizing his dilemma, Scourge felt a knot form in his stomach.

"You want me to steal from the Hedges?" asked Scourge.

"I don't want you to, I'm telling you to. Besides, haven't you already stolen the truth from them? Just look at it this way: You can either go back with them and bring me some nice jewels- or DVDs, or anything else that's valuable- and you can keep you new life. But if not, all that ends in an instant. I know where you live and I can spill your secret and have you hauled off to the juvenile center just like that," said Snively, quickly pulling his switchblade away from Scourge's neck to emphasize the last part of his sentence.

With the knife gone, Scourge had the courage to move again and turned around to face Snively.

"In fact, I'll make it easy on you. Just bring whatever you find over to that tire swing in the forest by your house, tomorrow at noon. I'll be waiting. And if you don't show up, you can bet your life I'll march right into that house and tell everyone who you really are...so do we have a deal?" asked Snively, putting his knife into his pocket.

He did have a point. What was a little jewelry next to finding out their son had been dead all this time?

"Fine," was all he could mutter.

"Excellent. You find something valuable and bring it to the tire swing in your forest tomorrow when both hands on the clock are pointing straight up. It's either that or you can kiss your family and your life goodbye," said Snively.

And with that, he walked out of the bathroom.

Scourge suddenly collapsed to his knees. Did that really just happen? Did he really just run into the same person who almost killed him? The same person who should have been arrested already? How was it that the police hadn't found the guy after weeks of searching for him, yet Scourge ran into him by mistake? Now he had this hanging over his head, as well.

_How did my luck go from miraculous to rock bottom so quickly? Am I destined to never have a happy life?_ thought Scourge.

This was just too unbelievable. But on the other hand, there was still a chance that perhaps he was related to the Hedges. He could very well have been a twin of Manic who was taken by Robotnik when he wandered off and the whole subject just became too painful for Jules and Aleena to talk about. Maybe that was where he came from.

He sure hoped so. That was the only hope he had left.

After using the urinal, he ran back to the movie and sat down beside Jules and did his best to enjoy the movie so as not to look suspicious. The scene that the movie was at showed Woody discovering that Buzz's memory had been wiped and he was now being forced to serve Lotso. This perplexed Scourge that such a thing could even happen to someone.

_How strange_, thought Scourge, _Despite knowing his friends for so long, he not only forgot who they were, but forgot who he was...I can't imagine what that's like._

With the entire ultimatum hanging over his head, Scourge didn't pay much attention to the rest of the movie, but Buzz losing his memory and being used by a villain really stuck out, partially because Scourge could relate to it since he was being forced to do Snively's bidding, except he already knew who he was, so at least he didn't have to worry about that. However, one thing was still stuck on his mind as they drove home.

As soon as they entered the front door, Sonic and Sonia raced up to their rooms to change into their bed tees and shorts and then do whatever. Jules went into the kitchen while Aleena was still getting her shoes off. This was the perfect opportunity to ask her.

"Hey mom?" said Scourge.

"Yeah?" asked ALeena, her smile making him feel a bit better.

"Did...did you and dad have any other kids besides me, Sonic, and Sonia?" he asked.

"Nope. You three were all we had," said Aleena nonchalantly.

The way she said it so calmly meant that she wasn't kidding. If she'd been lying, she wouldn't have sounded so carefree, and pressing the issue further would have aroused suspiscion, so Scourge simply shrugged it off.

"Ok, just wondering," he said.

As Aleena joined Jules in the kitchen, Scourge felt hollow inside. There was no chance of him being related to them now, which made him feel even more like an outsider and a freeloader.

Out of the corner of his eye, he saw something peculiar and turned to see what looked like Manic looking at him through the window. He almost screamed, until he realized it was his own reflection. Yet, for some reason, he couldn't shake off the dread he felt from another frightening possibility:

What if Manic was indeed alive and, like Lotso, found out he'd been replaced? What would happen then?


	16. Deliver us from Evil

_"Manic, what did I tell you about harrassing your sister?" demanded Aleena._

_"She almost walked on that puddle. Anyone else could have easily seen it."_

_"You let me worry about that. I'm the parent and I don't need you helping me out," scolded Aleena._

_"Why does everyone hate me? I'm only trying to make sure everyone is safe."_

_"That's my job, and your dad's. You've done enough, so I don't need your help anymore. Was that clear enough for you? Anyone else could have easily gotten it," said Aleena angrily._

_Scourge felt as if she were already rejecting him._ But then his eyes opened and he realized it was another dream. Like the others, it made little sense, but this one stood out from the others, it made him feel like an outsider, like he didn't belong. Rejected.

It seemed to prophetically foreshadow his fate by the end of the day.

He looked at the wall in front of him where his digital alarm clock's numbers were holographically displayed, via a projector in the alarm clock itself, the glowing red numbers projected read 11:31 and since noon was 12 o'clock, that meant he had about a half hour left to make his decision. Of course, Snively was basically just outside his house, so all he had to do was find something and take it to him without being spotted, so there was no big rush.

He ran the possibilities through his head, but he couldn't imagine any of them ending well. If he didn't give Snively what he wanted, the man would rat him out and he'd be hauled off to the juvie while the Hedges would be heartbroken, again. If he gave him what he wanted, he would have stolen from the Hedges, and taken their trust in the process. He'd thought of simply running away and hiding, but Snively seemed so determined to make him pay that he might come after the Hedges themselves, and with him in such close proximity to the Hedge house, was it so difficult to believe he might try to hurt Sonic or Sonia? Okay, maybe not Sonic since he could easily take Snively apart, but Sonia? She was only twelve. All Snively would have to do is wait for her to wander outside and then he could sneak up to her and stab her...or worse, he might kidnap her like his uncle did Manic.

Scourge shoved that thought from his head and went downstairs where the family was placing breakfast on the table.

"Hey slo-mo, you're just in time," said Sonic jokingly.

Scourge sat down at the table along with everyone else, and Sonia gave thanks for the food (and Manic's return). The green hedgehog thought of asking her to pray for him, but decided against it to avoid suspicion.

Afterward, they dug into the plates of food on the table and Scourge felt a bit better, but was lost in thought as he ate. What could he give to Snively that cost alot and wouldn't be so easily missed? There was the flatscreen TV in the family room, but that would be too obvious, and so would the game systems in the basement. Then Scourge thought back to the old Nintendo 64 in his room, or rather, Manic's room. Manic probably wouldn't mind, so he could give that to Snively and then he'd be safe.

Scourge started to feel better until he remembered something else Snively said: _You get me something I can pawn- **whenever I demand it**- and your secret remains safe with me_.

Whenever he demanded it? He wasn't going to leave him alone after that, he'd just keep demanding more, until the Hedges began to notice things were missing. Snively probably didn't care at all about Scourge's problems, he just wanted to milk him for all he was worth while he could still get something out of him. And what was to stop him from telling the Hedges anyway? He could get everything he wanted and still rat Scourge out to pay him back for telling the cops who stabbed him. It would fit since he'd never known Snively to be even remotely caring of others, and giving into him now would spell certain death, which left him with one choice. He had to get rid of Snively. The million dollar question was _how?_ How was he going to get rid of Snively?

There was no question that he deserved it since he'd already tried to get rid of Scourge, an eye for an eye, but the method of doing so was up for debate. Obviously he couldn't use a knife since Snively used one as if it were a part of himself, so knifing him was out of the question. But then Scourge remembered Jules telling him about the gun he kept in case something like this ever happened. Perhaps if he told him, he'd go take care of Snively before he had a chance to blab Scourge's secret. Then Scourge thought of another possibility: what if Snively saw Jules coming? He'd realize that he'd been ratted out a second time and could simply hide behind a tree and tell Jules from there.

But then Scourge got an idea: what if he told Jules and Aleena that Snively was the one who was lying? He could tell them the truth, that he met Snively in the bathroom of the theater and the man threatened to _lie_ that their son was actually somebody else so that he could take him again if he didn't cooperate. That would render anything Snively said ineffective, and he wouldn't be able to talk his way out of it, and Scourge would be safe again.

Scourge looked at the stovetop clock, which displayed the numbers 11:54. Only 6 minutes left till his official deadline, it was now or never.

"Dad, there's something I have to tell you," he began.

"What is it, Manic?" asked Jules, turning his full attention to Scourge.

"Do you remember Snively? The guy who stabbed me?" asked Scourge.

Jules' grip on his fork and knife tightened.

"Yes son, I remember very well. If I ever see him again, I _will_ kill him," he replied.

The tension around the table immediately grew.

"Yeah, about that. Last night while at the theater, I went to the bathroom, and he was there," said Scourge.

This drew everyone else's attention.

"What'd he do? D:" asked Sonia.

"I didn't know he was there until he had a knife to my throat from behind," said Scourge, shuddering slightly.

Everyone was too shocked for words.

"He told me...to steal something valuable from this house and bring it to him, or he would tell you that I wasn't your son so he could take me again," continued Scourge, his ears drooping.

"Nobody...threatens...my son!" fumed Jules, standing up, "Where did he want you to meet him?"

"By the tire swing...in 5 minutes."

Jules looked at the clock. 11:55. Snively must've meant noon. The older hedgehog turned his gaze back to Scourge.

"When I said I would always be there to protect you, I meant it. I lost you once, and I'm not gonna lose you again."

With that, Jules ran upstairs and came back down a moment later with his pistol and ran out the door.

Aleena lowered her head, closed her eyes, and put her hands together.

"Our father, who art in heaven, hollowed be thy name..."

Jules tore across the lawn toward the forest where his two sons used to play hide-and-seek.

"...thy kingdom come, thy will be done, on earth as it is in heaven..."

The older hedgehog ran through the brush until he could see the big tree at the top of the hill.

"...give us, this day, our daily bread, and forgive us of our sins as we forgive those who sin against us..."

As Jules ran up the hill, he saw someone step out from behind the tree, and instantly recognized the sickly little vermin. His son wasn't kidding, and the surprised expression on Snively's face was priceless.

"...and lead us not into temptation..."

Jules raised his pistol at the man who almost killed his boy. Snively turned to run.

"...but deliver us from evil..."

Jules' finger squeezed down on the trigger, and a bullet left the chamber in a blaze of glory and sailed toward the coward and struck him in the back. Snively cried out in agony and fell down the other end of the hill, rolling into a set of thick bushes. Jules reached the top of the hill and fired at the bushes until his clip was empty, then threw down his gun and ran down the hill and tore apart the shrubs, trying to find Snively, but he'd already vanished.

"IF I EVER SEE YOU AGAIN, I WILL KILL YOU!" shouted the enraged father, his voice echoing throughout the woods.

He picked up his empty gun and walked back to the house. Upon entering the door, he told Aleena "Call the cops! The coward got away!"


	17. Revelations

**I told some of you that there were two chapters left, but I decided to cut it short and combine them into one, so this is, in fact, the last chapter. It also takes place a week after the last chapter, just so you all know.**

Scourge's fist smashed into the punching bag. Everyday for the past week, he'd been coming down into the basement and unleashing his animalistic rage on the sack suspended from the ceiling, pretending that it was Snively's face.

When Snively got away almost a week before, something inside Scourge snapped and he felt an uncontrollable fury take hold, and since then, he'd done nothing but exercise and pound away at the punching bag. His entire life, thus far, had been stolen from him by a mad man who, through some divine miracle, wound up incapacitated in a car crash, finally freeing him from his hellish prison he'd been trapped in for so long, only for some little pipsqueak like Snively to ruin it all and put him back in it. It seemed as if no matter what he did or how hard he tried, he would always be destined for rock bottom. It wasn't enough that he'd spent his whole life in a dusty basement, and that Snively took his blood, but now he was taking Scourge's one chance at a normal life away, too.

Scourge was angry at Robotnik for taking his life to begin with, angry at Snively for taking away his soul, and angry at God for letting both him and Manic die in the end.

All his life, he'd been scared witless, but he'd reached the end of his rope. His entire world that he'd worked so hard to build by becoming Manic was about to come crashing down on him because of Snively. His world was about to end, so there was no point in being scared anymore. He would spend what remaining time he had left to make himself strong enough to give Snively the same kind of pain that he'd suffered for so many years.

The only good thing that came out of him losing his fear of everything was that he'd finally had the courage to learn how to swim and ski on water two nights before when the family made a second attempt at water skiing. That had been the one time he'd been happy since Snively got away.

_"Robotnik was in a car accident and he's unconscious in the hospital." said Snively, now smiling._

_I began to feel hope for the first time. This meant that he couldn't hurt me anymore and I could escape._

_"Does that mean you'll help me?" I asked him._

_"It means you're mine, now." he said, shoving me against the wall._

Scourge brought back his fist and smashed it into the punching bag with so much force that his knuckles got rug burned, but he ignored it and struck the bag again and again as more and more memories of pain and deprivation hit him like a storm.

_"If you do not do as you are told, I will have to kill you."_

_"So, I see little Manic made it back to his family, or was someone fibbing?"_

"SHUT UP!" shouted Scourge, punching and kicking.

_"It's time for our get together."_

"SHUT UP YOU FAT MONSTER!" screamed Scourge, throwing himself at the punching bag.

This tore it off the hook that had been holding it up, but it didn't matter to Scourge who continued hitting and biting it even after it fell on the ground. All those years of pent up pain and humiliation burst from Scourge like a dam as he reined vengeance down on the punching bag that was now on the floor.

"DIE! DIE! DIIIIIIE!" he shouted at the top of his lungs as he threw whatever kind of abuse he could think of at it, pretending it was Robotnik or Snively.

Then someone grabbed him from behind and he flailed wildly, trying to break free so he could continue his assault.

"LET GO OF ME!" he shrieked, trying to hit whoever was holding him back.

"Manic, stop! Please," begged Aleena as she held onto her boy.

Scourge's swinging and kicking slowed until eventually came to an end, and he slumped in Aleena's arms, feeling exhausted. After a few seconds, Aleena turned him around to look at her and he saw the pain on her face, the tears in her eyes.

"What's happened to you?" she asked, "I don't want to lose the son I prayed for, for so long. I just want Manic back," she said.

The younger hedgehog felt his heart break, seeing her that way, something he'd never seen before.

Both stared at each other's teary eyes for what seemed like an eternity before collapsing into each other's arms. Aleena held her boy as if he'd float away if she didn't, while Scourge held onto the only mother he'd ever known, absorbing her warmth and affection like a dry sponge tossed into a puddle.

"Everything's going to be alright, Manic. The cops are patrolling the neighborhood and they've started a manhunt for Snively. He won't be able to get near you without being spotted, and when he is, the cops will come down on him so hard he won't know what hit him," said Aleena as she held her son.

Scourge only wished that could provide him some comfort, but inside, he knew full well that once Snively was in police custody, there would be nothing to keep him from revealing Scourge's identity, and Scourge himself would be locked up in some place similar to Snively, if not in the same cell, which he was secretly hoping for so that he could make that animal of a man suffer what he had. Day after day, he'd been lifting weights and fighting the punching bag to prepare for the day when he would return the favor to Snively, once he had nothing left to lose. The only upside to this was that at least muscle was finally starting to show on his arms and chest. He finally was making progress on something worthwhile.

"I just want to be ready for him," replied Scourge.

"We are all here for you, Manic, and if he tries to hurt you again, he'll have to get through us first," said Aleena, "And you staying down here in this basement isn't healthy, anymore than staying in Robotnik's basement was."

Scourge hadn't thought of that. He'd practically locked himself inside the basement while working out. It was intended as a means of privacy, but now he realized he'd been trapping himself inside a prison of his own making.

"I...think I need to get out of here for a while," said Scourge, loosening his grip around Aleena.

"I think you need to get out of the house for a while," said Aleena.

Scourge picked up his shirt and put it back on as he'd only been wearing a pair of black jeans that he got on a second shopping trip to walmart 4 days prior. Aleena would have commented on how she noticed he'd been working out, but didn't want him to think she was making a move on him, so she simply said, "I noticed you look more fit."

"Yeah, I've been working out," he replied, walking up the stairs.

Irony.

She followed him up and closed the door, hopefully for the final time for today. Then she got the keys to the minivan, the family's second vehicle.

"Get your shoes on, let's get out of here for a while," she said.

Scourge had to agree. If he was about to be locked up again, he might as well enjoy himself one last time. He ran upstairs and got Sonic's flame jacket, which was a black jacket with flames on it, and put it on. Sonic was out of the house with Sonia and Jules, so he wouldn't mind. He put that on over his black cereal killer t-shirt and matching black jeans, and then got Sonic's sunglasses off his dresser, another item he probably wouldn't mind Scourge borrowing, not to mention the black get-up, the flame jacket, and the shades made him look tough, which held an obvious appeal to anyone who'd been pushed around their entire life. He then went back downstairs and put on his green tennis shoes and followed Aleena out to the minivan in the garage.

They climbed in the vehicle and drove off.

Scourge watched the world outside rush by, thinking back to the day the Hedges brought him home from the hospital. It had only been two weeks ago that that happened, he'd been given a new life. Who knew it would come to an end so quickly?

What worried him the most, however, was how the Hedges themselves would take it. He doubted they'd be forgiving of someone who had played them like a fiddle when he could have just gone to the police for help. But then he'd still have Snively to deal with, and the man had proven capable of slipping past the cops. The more he thought about all this, the more Scourge wished he'd never been born. Just one more knot in a string of rotten luck that had been his life.

Deep down, in the dark recess of his mind, something told the green hedgehog that this was it, that today was Scourge's last day. But if he was going down before the sun, then he would enjoy himself to the fullest.

"Are you feeling hungry? It's lunch time," said Aleena.

As a matter of fact, he did, since he hadn't had breakfast.

"I'm starved. Well, not literally," he replied.

"Alright, where should we go? :)" asked Aleena, sounding more upbeat.

Scourge thought about it for a moment. Which did he want more? Pizza or a Burger? The pizza was cheesy, saucy, and a bit tangy, whereas a cheeseburger was crisp, meaty, and had some of its own saucy flavors, depending on what you added to it, not to mention it came with crunchy, potatoey fries. After a moment of thinking, he decided on a burger and fries since he'd had that only once and had pizza three times, the first time at Robotnik's house, the second time when he came home from the hospital, and the third time during the previous weekend.

"Burger and fries sound good," said Scourge.

"Cool, where should we go?" asked Aleena.

Dang, so many choices. But at least they did a good job distracting him from his impending doom.

"Well, what is there?" asked Scourge.

"There's Wendy's, Burger King, McDonald's, Five Guys, Rainforest Cafe, plenty of places where you can get burgers," replied Aleena.

Burger King sounded like a winner, given its name.

"I'll go with Burger King," replied Scourge.

"I was thinking the same thing," said Aleena.

As they drove into town, Scourge looked at the various signs of different restaraunts and wondered how many places people needed to eat at before they were satisfied. But then one caught his eye: Taco Bell.

"What's Taco Bell?" asked Scourge.

"Hmm? o_O" asked Aleena.

Scourge mentally cursed himself for being careless.

"I know what it is, I'm just trying to remember what food they have," corrected Scourge.

"Oh right. They have all sorts of stuff, like tacos, which is food wrapped in tortillas, burritoes, which are similar, but have alot more stuff in them, and quesadillas, which is basically a round tortilla folded in half and filled with cheese, meat, and sauce.

That last one sounded mouth watering.

"On second thought, I'm curious about Taco Bell's food," said Scourge.

"No problem," said Aleena, turning the van into Taco Bell's parking lot.

They both got out of the van and Scourge decided to leave the flame jacket in the vehicle since it was starting to get warm, and then followed Aleena inside. Upon entering the first set of glass doors, he caught his reflection in the second set and realized just how gangster he looked in his all black clothing, spiked hair, and shades. He'd have looked even more so, had he brought his jacket with him. He'd remember to do so at the next stop.

"What would you like?" asked the cashier, who was a human.

Scourge looked up at the menu display and noted that the quesadilla looked as good as it sounded.

"I'll have the quesadilla," he said.

"Alright...and what will you be having?" asked the cashier.

"I'll have three 5-layer burritos," replied Aleena.

"Alright. Your orders will be a few minutes. Thank you for ordering," thanked the Cashier, with a smile.

Scourge wasn't sure why the Cashier cared, but being thanked by the human made him feel welcome here. It also changed his view of humans a bit. Maybe not all of them were that bad.

They waited a few minutes until the Cashier brought back a tray of wrapped food. Aleena placed the money on the countertop and Scourge brought the food over to a table near the windows and sat down just as Aleena brought their drinks from the soda fountain. Both contained blue powerade.

"Would you like to give thanks?" asked Aleena.

_What for? I got a new life just to have it ripped away from me again,_ thought Scourge, _Although, if I asked the big guy to help me, he might make my life a bit easier._

Scourge placed his hands together and closed his eyes and prayed. He gave thanks for the food, but then very quietly ended his prayer with "and deliver me from evil."

Then they dug into the deliciousness on the tray between them, although Scourge was a little disappointed by how small the quesadilla was, but he still loved it and was licking his fingers before he remembered to take a sip of his powerade.

"Dang, when you said you were hungry, you weren't kidding," chuckled Aleena.

"Eh, it was kinda small, but SO GOOD!" said Scourge.

"Well, would you like some of my burrito?" asked Aleena.

The burrito was filled with cheese, ground meat, and what looked like sour cream. It didn't appear appetizing, but Scourge was curious, so he said "Sure, why not?" and Aleena used a plastic knife to cut one of them in half and gave it to Scourge. He finished it and had a rather hypnotic look on his face afterward. That 5 layer burrito was one of the best things he'd ever tasted.

"That's some good burrito, 0_0" he purred.

"Is it?" laughed Aleena.

"I wish I'd gotten burritos instead of the quesadilla," said Scourge

"Then let's get some, :)" said Aleena.

Several burritos later, they were FULL and headed out to the van.

"Where should we head to, now?" asked Aleena.

"I dunno. What is there?" asked Scourge, sipping on his refill of powerade.

"Well let's take a look around and see if there's anything that interests you. Ya never know what might stand out after all these years," said his mom.

They drove through town for a while, looking at all the neat places, and for a moment, Scourge actually forgot about his predicament and felt content again for the first time in a week, and all it took was a carefree ride through town with his new mom. Then the Riverdale Mall came into view and the words _game arcade_ popped into Scourge's mind for whatever reason, and he felt curious.

"Can we stop at the mall?" asked Scourge.

"You sure?" asked Aleena uneasily.

"Yeah, I'm ok with it," replied Scourge, unsure of why Aleena seemed unenthused about that particular place.

"Alright," said Aleena, turning into the mall parking lot.

They got out and this time, Scourge remembered to keep Sonic's flame jacket on walked into the big building complex that seemed to dwarf even Wal Mart. Scourge was thoroughly impressed with the collection of stores and businesses all under one roof. Despite being around 14, he couldn't help being impressed with that kind of success. They walked through the indoor city, checking out various staores and departments until Scourge saw a video game arcade. Something about it seemed familiar, but he couldn't quite place his finger on it.

_"Why so down?"_

_"I'm not good enough for my mom."_

_"She thinks you're bad?"_

_"I guess."_

_"I can show you how to make her want you again, I can show you how to be good."_

Those words echoed through his mind as he looked at the arcade in front of him. He continued trying to figure out the personal significance of this particular part of the mall until Aleena tapped him on the shoulder.

"Are you wanting to play some games?" she asked.

Scourge shook his head.

"Not really, I just...feel a bit awkward around this area."

"So do I. Let's move on," said Aleena.

Scourge was about to ask what she meant by that, but then he noticed a store with the word _Pet_ in its title and wanted to see what they had.

"What do they got in there?" he asked curiously as he pointed to the Pet Shop.

"Let's find out, :)" suggested Aleena.

They both walked into the pet shop to find small animals in glass cages. Puppies, kittens, reptiles, and fish everywhere. Scourge lost himself in the joy that he felt from seeing kittens happily playing with yarnballs inside their cages and tapped the glass, getting the attention of a kitten with black fur that meowed at him. He stuck his finger at the glas and the small kitten put its nose to where his finger touched, as if to sniff it, but quickly got bored and went back to playing with the yarn ball.

Scourge then heard giggling behind him and looked to see one of the cashier girls watching him. He looked back at the glass cage and noticed his own reflection and realized how silly he must've looked, a guy dressed up like a bike gang member going ga-ga over kittens. Then he looked over at the reptile section to see a Mobian Chameleon looking at a wild Chameleon in a glass cage. Must've been a truly bizarre experience for him.

Then he heard a slight vibrating noise and saw Aleena pull out her phone.

"Hello?" she asked, "Oh, hey Jules."

She walked out of the Pet Shop to avoid bothering the other customers with her phone conversation, and Scourge followed her, wanting to stay close.

"We're at the Riverdale Mall, believe it or not...yeah, he felt a bit awkward, but he seems to be doing okay...how close did you say you were?...alright, we can meetup at the south end where we parked...yeah that sounds great, I think Manic would love that...alright, see ya in a few...love ya, bye."

"What was that about?" asked Scourge.

Aleena turned to him.

"Your father has Sonic and Sonia with him and is close by. He wanted to pick us both up and take us to Pizza Hut."

Scourge had another ga-ga moment. First quesadilla and burritos, and now PIZZA with da family, too?

"Awesomesauce!" declared Scourge, raising his fist in the air.

They walked toward the south end of the mall, but as they neared the doors, Scourge those same voices from before flashed through his head:

_"Wait, where are you taking me? You said you'd show me how to be good."_

_"I am."_

_"Please stop, I don't want to do this anymore."_

_"It's for your own good."_

Scourge stopped and placed his hand to his head. He could almost feel the voices, so he knew they weren't coming from nearby, but what exactly was going on? Why was he hearing things? And why did those voices sound so familiar to him?

"Manic, are you alright?" asked Aleena.

"Yeah, just felt weird for a second," replied Scourge, not wanting her to think there was anything wrong with him.

But inside, Scourge remembered that feeling from earlier that today would be his last day, and that feeling was growing for a reason he did not know, nor could explain.

"Oh look, there's Jules and Sonic," said Aleena.

Scourge looked up to see his new dad and brother coming in through the doors, but Sonia was nowhere to be found.

"Where's Sonia?" he called out.

Jules and Sonic turned around, expecting Sonia to be right behind them, but found no such person.

Then the voices returned. Only this time, Scourge had a vision of a parking lot, and of a burly man forcing a young kid into a car:

_"Now I'll teach you to be good."_

_"HELP! I'M BEING KIDNAPPED!"_

_"Shut up!"_

_"SOMEONE PLEASE HEEELLLLP!"_

_"I said SHUT UP!" _

_"NO! NO! NOOOO!" _

_"I said be quiet, Manic."_

Manic. Robotnik. The arcade. This was where it all happened! That was why everyone felt so awkward around the arcade. This was where Manic had been taken! But now Sonia was missing, and Snively was still loose.

A chill ran up Scourge's spine. He wasn't the one in danger, Sonia was.

He took off through the doors, toward the part of the parking lot where he remembered seeing Robotnik's car in the vision and stopped dead in his tracks to see Snively holding Sonia in front of himself, as if using her as a shield, his knife to her throat.

"Backstabber! That's twice now that you've ratted me out!" growled the short, sickly man, "And your old man filled me so full of lead that I have to overdose on pain killers just to get around now. But I guess you know pain better than anyone else. Isn't that right, SCOURGE?"

He actually did it, he just shattered what hope Scourge had left with one word: his real name. And it proved fitting.

"S-scourge?" asked Sonia breathlessly.

Just then, Sonic ran up beside Scourge, followed by Jules and Aleena.

Jules pulled out his pistol and aimed it at Snively, who ducked behind Sonia while keeping the knife to her throat. Aleena was so horrified that she couldn't move, hardly.

"You take the left, I'll take the right," Sonic whispered to Scourge.

Both hedgehogs began circling Snively, cutting off his escape while Jules kept a bead on him.

"Manic is dead! That imposter is Scourge. He stole Manic's identity so he could rip you off!" shouted Snively, keeping his knife at Sonia's throat.

Now it was out. Scourge's dread of being discovered before the day was over had proven accurate. There was no point in covering it up now.

"That's interesting, coming from a guy threatening to kill my daughter," growled Jules, keeping the gun leveled.

They didn't believe Snively. Scourge's own little lie must've worked pretty well since they still thought Snively was the one lying.

"Well then allow me to make this even simpler for you: either Scourge surrenders himself to me right now, or your little girl's throat becomes a keycard slot," hissed Snively.

Scourge was at a loss and looked at his brother. Sonic looked back at him and tapped his index finger against the side of his head, as if to signal a thought. Scourge did the same and felt the rim of the sunglasses he was wearing, and saw a devious smirk appear on Sonic's face, as if to say _you thinking what I'm thinking?_ The blue hedgehog then leaned back and stretched his arms out behind himself- something he only did before running. Scourge knew right away what he was thinking and removed the sunglasses.

"Okay, Snively...you win...I tried to live a normal life...but you keep taking that away from me...so...here's to you."

And with that, he tossed the sunglasses to Snively, who caught them just before they collided with his face and stared at them, wondering why in the world Scourge just gave him a pair of shades- until Sonic ran up to him with surprising speed, grabbed his arm, the one holding the knife, and pulled it away from Sonia, who ducked in time for Sonic's fist to fly over her and collide with Snively's face, knocking him backward and allowing Sonic to pull Sonia out of the way. Snively was about to lunge at the two when Scourge came out of nowhere and blocked his path. Snively made a lunge for him, instead, with his knife while Scourge simply swiped his knife hand away.

(Swipe)

He then backhanded Snively with that same hand,

(Slap)

and slammed both hands against either side of Snively's head, stunning him.

(Smash)

Scourge then ran away from Snively and shouted "NOW!"

Jules pulled the trigger, sending a hollowpoint bullet right between Snively's eyes, knocking him off his feet for the final time.

"I told you I'd kill you," growled Jules, "If you'd turned yourself in when you had the chance, at least you'd be safe from me."

Aleena ran up to Sonia and hugged her as tight as she could, releasing tears of joy that her only daughter had been spared. Scourge simply breathed a sigh of relief and let his gaze sink to the pavement. The Hedges stubbornly hung onto the idea that he was Manic, even though Snively had already told them otherwise, and Scourge would have been happy to keep the ruse going, had it not placed Sonia's life in danger. She'd almost been killed because he was too stubborn to admit who he really was: not their long lost son, just a scourge. That's what he'd always been, that's what he'd always be to those around him.

"Nice aim with the shades, you totally read my mind with that Albert Wesker stunt," chuckled Sonic, referencing a video game character who'd pulled off a similar move involving sunglasses, "And that CQC move was killer. Where'd you learn that?"

"I...don't remember," said Scourge (he honestly didn't).

He then removed the flame jacket and handed it back to Sonic, his gaze still aimed at his feet.

"Hey, what's up with that?" asked Sonic.

"I figured you might want it back since the jig is up," said Scourge.

"What do you mean? o_O" asked Sonic, thoroughly confused.

"You heard Snively, I'm not Manic at all, I'm Scourge," continued Scourge, "I pretended to be Manic just so I could have his home and his family."

"Are you serious? O_O" asked Sonic.

"Why would I joke about it?"

By now, everyone's eyes were on him.

"But if you're not Manic, then how did you know about us?" asked Jules.

Scourge decided to start from the beginning.

"While in Robotnik's basement, I found an old news story about Manic, similar tot he one you guys had in your home, and shortly after, I fell asleep and dreamed that Aleena was my mom and I was sledding down a hill and then fell off my sled, so she ran down and picked me up and held me, even after she tripped and fell into the snow, still holding me like a mother would. I wanted to feel that again, for real, so I just pretended I was Manic when I heard Robotnik was in the hospital, and that was it," he explained.

After a moment, Aleena broke the awkward silence.

"Hold on, you dreamed about sledding, then falling, and me picking you up?" she asked.

"Yeah? What does that matter?" asked Scourge, unable to look at her.

"It matters a great deal...because it really happened."

That got Scourge's attention.

"What do you mean?" he asked, looking up at Aleena.

"What you described sounds almost identical to what happened ten years ago when we went out to get a Christmas Tree, and on the way home, we went sledding, and that's exactly what happened." replied Aleena.

"But I wasn't there, and I'm not related to Manic. How is it even possible that I could have dreamed something that he experienced?" asked Scourge.

"Did it ever occur to you that that was a memory rather than just a dream?" asked Sonic.

"Memory?" asked Scourge, "How would...I remember that?"

"Because you _are_ Manic!" said Jules, placing his hands firmly on Scourge's shoulders.

"If you're not Manic, then how could you predict what I was thinking so accurately, back there?" asked Sonic, "Only Manic was able to think like me."

_(back when you two were still tots, you both seemed to think alike on so many things that your mother swore you were both telepathic.)_

It was starting to make sense now. That also explained the other dreams and visions he'd had. The one he'd had about Robotnik kidnapping him the night he came home to the Hedge house was a memory of when Robotnik first kidnapped him in this same spot he was now standing on, 5 years ago. The dream he'd had about him arguing with Aleena had happened the day he was kidnapped, just before it actually happened. The vision he'd had of a young boy complaining to an older man that he wasn't good enough for his mom was himself talking to Robotnik shortly after his argument with Aleena. The vision of the same man leading the kid out of the mall against his will was Robotnik kidnapping him, which led back to the first nightmare he'd had. All those were memories of him being kidnapped!

_I've been trapped in this stupid house for as long as I can remember!_

Scourge fell to his knees, holding his head. This was too much. Could he really have been Manic and not known it all this time?

_I wouldn't be able to remember much even if I was Manic._

"How come you never believed Snively when he told you I was Scourge?" he asked.

"Because he missed one very basic part of you being found," said Jules, "When you were brought to the hospital, they tested your DNA and proved you were Manic even before they called us, so we knew who you were from the very beginning."

Then Scourge remembered having an unusual preference for grape juice, and butterfingers mixed with cheetos (chapters 13 and 15) and he suddenly rememebered why: those had always been some of his favorite snacks since he was a kid (Prank or Treat, chapters 1-2). Same with the waffles, brownies, and spongebob cartoons. Scourge even had the same preferences as Manic! He could not believe this. All this time he was the only one who believed he was somone other than who he really was. This whole time he feared his true identity would be discovered, when in reality he'd been living it.

That move he'd used on Snively was also something from his past, a move his older cousin Ashura taught him (Prank or Treat, chapter 6). But after saving the family from a burglar, he got cocky and started acting like he knew what was best for the two siblings, getting after them everytime they did anything he deemed unsafe...such as walking near a puddle, which was what led to the argument he'd had with Aleena just before being kidnapped. That same move which had later gotten him into trouble 5 years ago also saved his life only a minute ago.

"I really am Manic!" said the green Hedgehog.

He then felt a familiar group of arms enveloping him. For the first time, Manic could breathe easy, knowing he wasn't a scourge, and more importantly, he was alive. Today was definitely Scourge's last day, because he was a lie that a lost boy had been living, and it was time to start living the truth, which had, at long last, set him free.

"Welcome home, Manic."

_But we had to celebrate and be glad, because this brother of yours was dead and is alive again; he was lost and is found.  
-Luke 15:32_


	18. A New Threat

_"Okay, Snively...you win...I tried to live a normal life...but you keep taking that away from me...so...here's to you."_

From across the parking lot sat a lone figure in an inconspicuous looking car, watching the whole scene, through binoculars, as it unfolded.

He watched the green hedgehog in the flame jacket toss his shades at Snively, then charge at him, alongside his brother, who pulled Snively's arm, allowing his hostage to move away from him while Sonic punched him.

The figure swore under his breath as Snively's plan began to fall apart, but concentrated with renewed interest as Manic easily swiped Snively's knife away, averting an attempted stab, then backhanded him with enough force to stun him- even as he was blocking his knife attack. Then he finished by clapping both sides of Snively's head with both his hands, leaving the small man completely disoriented, allowing the green hedgehog to run and signal his dad, who was armed with what appeared to be an H&K USP40, that was already pointed just above Snively, so as not to risk hitting Manic. But now that his son was out of the way, there was nothing to stop Mr. Hedge from lowering the weapon and pulling the trigger, sending a S&W .40 round through Snively's head, knocking him back.

He didn't get back up, but his demise had attracted attention from bystanders in the parking lot, and even a few near the entrance to the mall. The person in the car considered leaving the scene, but no one seemed to have noticed him, so he continued spying on the family, though he left the keys in the ignition, just in case. If he even suspected the_ Brotherhood_ was onto him, he was out of there.

_"Nice aim with the shades, you totally read my mind with that Albert Wesker stunt...and that CQC move was killer. Where'd you learn that?"_

The driver may have been across the parking lot, but the Hi-Def listening device Snively carried in his pocket- disguised as a cell phone- allowed him to hear every word they said.

_"I...don't remember."_

The figure raised an eyebrow. All this time with his own family, and the green hedgehog still hadn't figured it out. There was no room for doubt on whether or not the brainwashing had worked. He continued watching as Manic handed the shades back to his brother.

_"Hey, what's up with that?"_

_"I figured you might want it back since the jig is up."_

_"What do you mean?"_

_"You heard Snively, I'm not Manic at all, I'm Scourge. I pretended to be Manic just so I could have his home and his family."_

_"Are you serious?"_

_"Why would I joke about it?"_

_"But if you're not Manic, then how did you know about us?"_

_"While in Robotnik's basement, I found an old news story about Manic, similar to the one you guys had in your home, and shortly after, I fell asleep and dreamed that Aleena was my mom and I was sledding down a hill and then fell off my sled, so she ran down and picked me up and held me, even after she tripped and fell into the snow, still holding me like a mother would. I wanted to feel that again, for real, so I just pretended I was Manic when I heard Robotnik was in the hospital, and that was it."_

So it wasn't faulty brainwashing that helped him find his way home, it was the fat man being careless. He could claim himself a genius all he wanted, but such claims went out the other ear when he did something as amateurish as leave evidence of the boy's past in a place so easy for him to find it. Robotnik would be lucky if he wasn't executed on the spot for jeopardizing the entire operation like this.

_"...hold on, you dreamed about sledding, then falling, and me picking you up?"_

_"Yeah? What does that matter?"_

_"It matters a great deal...because it really happened."_

_"What do you mean?"_

_"What you described sounds almost identical to what happened ten years ago when we went out to get a Christmas Tree, and on the way home, we went sledding, and that's exactly what happened."_

_"But I wasn't there, and I'm not related to Manic. How is it even possible that I could have dreamed something that he experienced?"_

_"Did it ever occur to you that that was a memory, rather than just a dream?"_

_"Memory? How would...I remember that?"_

_"Because you are Manic!"_

_"If you're not Manic, then how could you predict what I was thinking so accurately, back there? Only Manic was able to think like me."_

Manic pondered that for a moment, then fell to his knees, grabbing his head, making the driver worry that he remembered everything...including parts of his captivity that he wasn't supposed to.

_"How come you never believed Snively when he told you I was Scourge?"_

_"Because he missed one very basic part of you being found. When you were brought to the hospital, they tested your DNA and proved you were Manic even before they called us, so we knew who you were from the very beginning."_

A long, uncomfortable silence followed, before the green hedgehog declared, with relization, _"I really am Manic!"_

As soon as he finished, his mother and father hugged him tightly, Sonic and Sonia quickly joining in.

The driver set his binoculars and ear phones on the passenger seat, then picked up a cell and dialed a number known only to himself and the person he was calling. Placing the phone to his ear, he listened to the ring tones, heard four sound off, as was standard procedure, before a familiar voice answered, "I trust you have an update on the situation?"

"I do," replied the man in the car, "Snively brought a knife to a gunfight...the old man was packing."

"I take it Snively's dead?" asked the person on the other end, his smooth voice making his words melt through the phone the driver was listening to.

"He took one through the face, so he's not likely to report in, anytime soon. However, that listening device he took with him did allow me to overhear some very revealing details, regarding Project Scourge."

"What have you heard?"

"The subject was able to remember his life before Robotnik snatched him...but not what happened afterward. He doesn't seem to recall anything important about his captivity, except its unpleasantness."

"That's...good to know...but there's no telling how long that will last. He may not remember Project Scourge right now, but it could still surface from his subconscious in the future. We'll need a contingency plan to retrieve him."

"I could have a snatch-and-grab op ready to go in a week or two. Even the _Guardians_ won't be able to interfere, assuming they know about our involvement"

"...I guess that's our best option, for now. Anything else?"

"As a matter of fact, yes. Before the old man shot him, the subject engaged Snively and displayed impressive hand-to-hand fighting capabilities, easily making short work of Snively before allowing daddy to finish him off, so he can still put up a fight."

"So he remembers his CQC training...does he remember where it came from?"

"That's where it gets interesting; I heard the subject explicitly mention remembering parts of his past when he found an old news clipping of his kidnapping in Robotnik's basement. The lard ball actually kept a newspaper clipping of the crime, and kept it in the same room as the subject, of all places."

"...Robotnik...either the man's losing it, or he's as stupid as he is grotesque! This goes against all progress he's made, so far, because there's no telling what else he screwed up in the last 5 years!"

"I agree. The fat man can't be trusted after that kind of blunder."

"Just assemble your team and let me know when you have a plan for grabbing the boy. As soon as he's back in our custody, the higher ups will decide what to do with the bad doctor, and I'll be the one looking after the boy."

"Will do. When can I expect the new phone number to call you with?"

"You'll find it in your mailbox with the rest of your mail, as soon as the mailman makes his next round. You can only use it once, so make sure not to contact me until you have a plan."

"I'll begin, right away."

"Good to hear. And best of luck to you."

"Thank you...Dr Finitevus."

With that, the driver ended the call, and drove off...


End file.
